I woke up in order to be at Himeji [姫路]’s Castle Himeji-jo [姫路城] when they opened at 9am. Himeji had been on my to-do list for a long time, and now I had the chance to see it. I must learn how to convince volunteer guides to leave me alone though, as the visit would have been much better on my own. I visited the Main Keep, the East Small Keep, the Hyakken Roka (Long corridor)

Then I walked around the castle grounds for a while and snooped around Himeji Jinja [姫路神社], although I did not go much far in.

Afterwards I walked (without melting, which was a good thing) to the complex formed by Otokoyama Senhime Tenmangu [男山千姫天満宮] and Mizuo Shrine [水尾神社] and the corresponding observatory of the castle.

Next I walked back towards the castle grounds and around them because the gate of Itatehyozu Jinja [射楯兵主神社] had caught my eye from the castle.

My last stop for the day was Gokoku Shrine [護国神社].

And you know what? The rest of the day sucked because there were lots of problems. Good thing I checked that Fukuyama Castle would be closed before jumping on the train. I got my butt to Osaka [大阪]. My hotel turned out to be a love-hotel, not somewhere I actually felt safe or welcome, and my concert ticket was not such, but the proof of sale. I spent hours trying to check if it had been picked up, and finding a way to exchange hotels, and I did not sleep almost anything. Fortunately, the ticket was ultimately found, I booked another hotel for the upcoming nights and the worst thing that happened was a morning on the trains ε-(´・｀) ﾌ