Himeji City

A National Treasure, straight ahead on the way to work.

Himeji Castle

Photo by Maechan0360 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Castle

It is whitebecause of the plaster.

The connected keep completed in 1609 still stands as built, the great keep tied to three smaller ones by covered corridors. Restoration work begun in 2009 finished with a grand reopening in 2015. The white comes from plaster laid on by hand.

1993: Japan’s first World Heritage Site
8 National Treasure buildings
1609: connected keep completed

02 ／ Prayer

The Hieizan of the westis not a sightseeing spot.

Engyoji (圓教寺) on Mount Shosha was founded in 966 by the monk Shoku as a Tendai training hall, and is called the Hieizan of the west. The ropeway takes 3 minutes 50 seconds; from the top it is another 20 minutes on foot up a mountain path to the Maniden hall. The Last Samurai was filmed here.

Founded 966
Ropeway 3 min 50 sec
27th of the 33 Saigoku temples

03 ／ Festival

Three portable shrinesare slammed together.

Photo by Nnn at Japanese Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The autumn festival of Matsubara Hachiman Shrine, known as the fighting festival. On the 14th, floats from seven parish districts wheel before the gate; on the 15th, three portable shrines crash into each other in front of the hall, the gate and the foot of Mount Otabi. The whole town arranges its year around these two days.

Prefecturally designated folk cultural property
October 14–15
3 shrines, 7 floats

Living here

37 minutes to Sannomiya, 57 to Osaka on the rapid service.

about 530,000 people
60 min to a city centre

Direct rapid trains to Kobe and Osaka. Shinkansen trains stop here too, so Tokyo is a day trip.

People living here: 530,495people
Area: 534.56km²
Households: 224,106households
Rent (average for rentals): 50,882yen
Healthcare: 34 hospitals ／ 418 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).平成18年3月27日に家島町・夢前町・香寺町・安富町を編入。2005年調査（482,304人）は編入前、2010年調査（536,270人）は編入後。

Children waiting for childcare: —91 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Himeji City in Japan34.815°N 134.685°E

to SannomiyaJR Special Rapid37min
to OsakaJR Special Rapid57min

Travel times follow 2026年3月ダイヤ改正後に各社が公式サイトに掲載している値 (checked 2026-09-22). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 9 municipalities.

Territory of Himeji City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

55.6km

宍粟市, たつの市, 福崎町, 太子町, 加古川市, 高砂市, 神河町, 加西市, 市川町

Himeji City isthis kind of town.

01Himeji Castle: a connected keep standing as built since 1609, 8 National Treasure buildings, Japan’s first World Heritage Site
02Engyoji on Mount Shosha, a mountaintop training hall founded in 966
0337 minutes to Sannomiya by rapid train, with Shinkansen service as well

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Himeji City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗