While Himeji Castle was very pretty on the outside and offered varied perspectives, it was not nearly as interesting on the inside for us. Koko-en, on the other hand, was a different thing altogether: the garden was drop-dead gorgeous through and through! Just look at these pictures below: they were taken from around 3:45PM onward:
The beauty of Koko-en isn’t on the scale of Okayama Korakuen, but it’s still really picturesque and has the benefit of being compact. I read that the garden is a fairly recent construction from 1992, with its design based on the Edo Period of the 17th to 19th centuries. The centerpiece of the compound is the garden of the Lord’s Residence – which is where the above three pictures were taken. The garden has a suggested pathway for visitors to follow too, and there are really pretty perspectives to be had at various vantage points. It might also have been because of the timing of our visit – late afternoon – that the garden wasn’t crowded at this point. There is also a tea garden that was unfortunately closed today.
Pictures of the kids exploring the garden on their own too:
Admission to the castle and garden can be purchased as a combo ticket at ¥1,050. I really recommend you opt for that combo admission. And try, try, try to squeeze in at least 30 minutes to visit the garden – preferably an hour if you want to really take your time in it.
Continuing on to Day 05 next!
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