Hikone

We traveled to Hikone recently for a day trip. It is about an hour north east of Kyoto on the other side of Lake Biwa. We saw some amazing snow-capped mountains on the train ride up there.  Hikone is the home of one of the best preserved Medieval castles in Japan. We took a nice walk over to the castle from the train station, spent about two hours walking through the castle and the grounds surrounding it, then we had dinner and went home.

We started in a museum on the castle grounds showing all sorts of medieval samurai armor, Noh costumes, swords, and documents. The cherry blossoms are coming out and this garden was beautiful.

These are the steps heading up to the castle

Here is a view of the castle and another almost blooming cherry tree

Inside the castle, looking up, this is the ceiling 

N in the hallway on the top floor

The staircases in the castle were very steep!! 

Here is a good view of the exterior wall of the castle. 

The whole castle is surrounded by two moats and tall walls. 

After the castle we went to a garden next door; the garden was started by one of the old family members who lived in the castle (a Samurai family). Here is a lantern on the grounds

I love the traditional Japanese gardens with the trees and islands and bridges. So beautiful.

It was bright! But we were there.

Wendy always manages to take the most beautiful and interesting pictures. So pretty.

One last view of the castle from the garden.

We finished the day in an appropriate fashion. Japanese food and beer.