Cultural impact[edit]
Himeji Castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jō ("White Egret Castle") or Shirasagi-jō ("White Heron Castle") because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.[7][9] The castle has been featured extensively in foreign and Japanese films, including the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice" (1967), and Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985).[12] In the television miniseries Shōgun (1980) it served as a stand-in for feudal-era Osaka castle,[14] which has lost the surrounding fortifications.
Lore and legend
The legend of the "Old Widow's Stone" (姥が石 Ubagaishi?) is another folklore story associated with the castle.[6] According to the legend, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ran out of stones when building the original three-story castle keep, and an old woman heard about his trouble.[6] She gave him her hand millstone even though she needed it for her trade.[6] It was said that people who heard the story were inspired and also offered stones to Hideyoshi, speeding up construction of the castle.[6] To this day, the supposed stone can be seen covered with a wire net in the middle of one of the stone walls in the castle complex.[6]Himeji Castle is associated with a number of local lore.[6] The well-known kaidan (or Japanese ghost story) of Banchō Sarayashiki (番町皿屋敷 "The Dish Mansion at Banchō"?) is set in Edo (Tokyo), but a variant called Banshū Sarayashiki (播州皿屋敷 "The Dish mansion in Harima Province"?) is set in Himeji Castle. There is a disputed claim that the castle is the bona fide location of the entire legend, and the alleged Okiku's Well remains in the castle to this day.[5]According to the legend, Okiku was falsely accused of losing dishes that were valuable family treasures, and then killed and thrown into the well.[6] Her ghost remained to haunt the well at night, counting dishes in a despondent tone.[6]
A folklore story is also associated with Genbei Sakurai, who was Ikeda Terumasa's master carpenter in the construction of the castle keep.[6] According to the legend, Sakurai was dissatisfied with his construction, feeling that the keep leaned a little to the southeast.[6] Eventually, he became distraught and climbed to the top of the keep, where he jumped to his death with a chisel in his mouth.[6]
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