Himeji Local Quiz Practice: Questions and Explanations

Correct answerWhite Egret Castle

Himeji Castle earned the nickname White Egret Castle because its main keep and surrounding towers, finished in white plaster, were likened to a white heron spreading its wings in flight. That nickname has since become the shorthand the city itself is known by, well beyond castle enthusiasts.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answer1993

Himeji Castle was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, alongside Nara's Horyuji Temple, making the pair the first properties in Japan to receive that designation. The recognition reflects how rare it is for a wooden castle of this scale to survive largely unaltered into the present day.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerHishi-no-mon Gate

Hishi-no-Mon is the imposing two-story gate that marks where the approach to the keep truly begins, just past the Sannomaru grounds; it ranks among the largest surviving gates anywhere in the castle. Diamond-shaped crests carved into its beams, from which it takes its name, still hint at the decorative taste of the Momoyama era.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answer12

Himeji Castle is counted among Japan's twelve original castles, a group whose keeps predate the Meiji era rather than being postwar reconstructions. Of those twelve, only five, Himeji included, carry the added distinction of National Treasure status, placing it in an especially select tier of surviving castle architecture.

Source:About Himeji

Correct answerIeshima Islands

The Ieshima Islands are an archipelago of more than forty islands and islets scattered in the sea south of Himeji, though only a handful of them are actually inhabited. Blessed with sheltered harbors, the group has thrived on fishing and shipping since the Edo period, giving Himeji its maritime, seafaring side.

Source:Overview of the Ieshima Area

Correct answerRight next to Himeji Castle

Koko-en is a strolling Japanese garden built on the former West Residence grounds, right beside World Heritage Himeji Castle, where the domain's ruling family once lived. Its name is said to come from Kokodo, an Edo-period domain school that once stood near the garden's entrance, and its several distinctly styled garden spaces let visitors catch views of the keep as they wander through.

Source:Koko-en

Correct answerA ropeway

The Shoshazan Ropeway links a station at the foot of Mount Shosha with one near its summit, carrying visitors up to an ancient temple complex that spreads across the mountaintop. A hiking trail covers the same climb in nearly an hour on foot; the ropeway does it in a few scenic minutes.

Source:Shoshazan Ropeway

Correct answerCrash them into each other

The Nada Fighting Festival is the autumn grand festival of Matsubara Hachiman Shrine, famous for the dramatic clash of three portable shrines carried by rival groups. Seven former villages along the coast, including Shikama and Shirahama, each field a festival float, making it one of the most physical, high-energy festivals in the Banshu region.

Source:Nada Fighting Festival

Correct answerGozasoro

Gozasoro is a Himeji-based confectionery chain specializing in kaiten-yaki, the round griddle-baked sweet also known as imagawayaki, sold with both white bean and red bean fillings as its signature options. It has grown from its Himeji roots into shops across the Kansai region and is a familiar gift item for locals.

Source:Company Profile

Correct answerChanpon-yaki

Chanpon-yaki is a Himeji specialty that combines yaki-udon and yakisoba on the same griddle, letting diners taste the contrasting textures of two different noodles in a single dish. It has remained a long-standing favorite at local teppan restaurants around the city, distinct from the champon noodle soup found elsewhere in Japan.

Source:About Himeji

Correct answer1931

Himeji Castle was first designated a National Treasure in 1931 under the old preservation law, and received that status again in 1951 once Japan's postwar Cultural Properties Protection Law took effect. The re-designation reflected renewed recognition of how significant its main keep and surrounding buildings are as heritage architecture.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerHimeji Station

The Sanyo Shinkansen stops only at Himeji Station within the city, which functions as the gateway connecting to local trains and buses heading toward Himeji Castle. Nishi-Akashi and Aioi also have Shinkansen platforms, which can be confusing, but both of those stations actually sit outside Himeji's city limits.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerHimeji Yukata Festival

The Himeji Yukata Festival is the city's summer festival known for the sea of yukata-clad visitors who fill its streets, with food stalls and dance performances that invite heavy community participation. It has become a fixture of the Himeji summer, when residents in yukata are a common sight around town.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerA white egret

Himeji's city emblem features a white egret, drawing on the long-standing tradition of comparing the castle's graceful, white-plastered silhouette to the bird in flight. By overlapping the image of the castle with that of the egret, the emblem ties the city's civic identity directly to its castle-town history.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerSakura Gate

Sakura Gate stands at the entrance to Himeji Castle's Sannomaru bailey, the first gate visitors pass through when approaching from Otemae-dori. Beyond it lies the open Sannomaru grounds, followed by the inner gates, including Hishi-no-Mon, that lead progressively closer to the keep complex itself.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerServed with ginger soy sauce

Himeji Oden is defined less by its ingredients than by how it's eaten: the simmered fish cakes and vegetables are dipped in, or topped with, ginger-infused soy sauce. Any oden served this way came to be collectively called Himeji Oden, a style now familiar in both home kitchens and local restaurants.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerChinese windmill

Himeji's official city butterfly is the Chinese windmill, a large swallowtail whose Japanese name, jakou-ageha, refers to the musk-like scent given off by the adult males. Conservation efforts within the city aim to protect its habitat, and the butterfly has become a well-loved symbol of Himeji alongside the egret.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answer1992

Koko-en opened in 1992 as a commemorative project marking the 100th anniversary of Himeji's incorporation as a city, built right beside the castle as a strolling Japanese garden. It was laid out over excavated remains of Edo-period samurai residences, giving a newer attraction a genuine sense of the castle town's history.

Source:Koko-en

Correct answerThe signing of the Japan-US peace treaty

The decision to build Himeji Municipal Zoo was made by the city council in September 1951 to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, the peace treaty that formally ended the Allied occupation of Japan. The zoo opened that December, becoming one of the symbols of Himeji's postwar recovery.

Source:History of Himeji Municipal Zoo

Correct answerShodoshima

The Ieshima Islands' four inhabited islands are Ieshima, Ogashima, Bouzejima, and Nishijima; Shodoshima, though it sits in the same Seto Inland Sea and belongs to Hyogo Prefecture, is not one of them. The geographic proximity of these islands to Shodoshima makes this a classic point of confusion in quizzes about the area.

Source:Overview of the Ieshima Area

Correct answer1976

Himeji signed a sister-city agreement with Phoenix, Arizona, in 1976, one of the earliest such partnerships the city established overseas. In the decades since, the relationship has grown to include student exchange programs and cultural exchange centered on Japanese gardens, sustaining an active friendship between the two cities.

Source:Overseas Sister/Friendship City (Phoenix)

Correct answerOctober 14-15

The Nada Fighting Festival, the autumn grand festival of Matsubara Hachiman Shrine, is held every year on October 14 and 15. Across those two days, the seven former villages parade their festival floats, culminating on the final day in the dramatic clash of portable shrines that gives the festival its name.

Source:Nada Fighting Festival

Correct answerTo open a new field using their armor-making skills

The Myochin family had served as official armor makers for the Himeji domain, but when the Meiji-era abolition of the domains ended demand for armor, they redirected their metalworking skills toward a new craft: making firetongs. Later generations went on to develop further new products, letting their forging techniques survive into the present day.

Source:Myochin Firetongs / Myochin Wind Chimes

Correct answerThe Sakai clan

The Sakai clan took over Himeji Domain in 1749, moving in from Maebashi Domain in Kozuke Province, and went on to rule Himeji continuously until the Meiji Restoration. That long tenure stands in contrast to the earlier decades, when the Ikeda, Honda, and other clans changed hands in quick succession.

Source:Himeji Domain

Correct answerYamada Nishiki

Sake brewing across the Himeji and wider Banshu region relies heavily on Yamada Nishiki, widely regarded as the finest sake rice available. Bred originally in Hyogo Prefecture, its large grains and well-formed starchy core make it easier to brew into clean, refined sake with relatively little off-flavor.

Source:About Himeji

Correct answer1609

Today's main keep at Himeji Castle was built by Ikeda Terumasa, who was awarded the castle for his role at the Battle of Sekigahara and spent nine years, from 1601 to 1609, rebuilding it on a far grander scale. He expanded on the three-story keep Toyotomi Hideyoshi had raised there decades earlier.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answer7 floors

Seen from the outside, Himeji Castle's main keep appears to have five tiers, but internally it is built with six floors above ground plus one basement level, seven floors in total. This mismatch between the exterior's tier count and the interior's actual floor count is a common feature of Japanese castle keeps.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerLoopholes

Sama are small openings cut into the walls of the keep and surrounding ramparts, used to shoot arrows or matchlock guns at attackers from inside. Roughly a thousand of these openings survive within Himeji Castle's inner bailey today, with elongated rectangular ones built for arrows and round, triangular, or square ones sized for firearms.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerNishi-no-Maru Bailey

Nishi-no-Maru is the bailey spreading across the western side of Himeji Castle, known for buildings still standing there associated with Princess Sen, who came to live at the castle after the Siege of Osaka. It is also a popular spot for viewing the keep as a single, unified silhouette from the west.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answerEngyoji Temple

Engyoji is an ancient Tendai-sect temple whose halls spread across the summit of Mount Shosha in western Himeji, said to have been founded in 966 by the monk Shoku. Sometimes called the 'Mount Hiei of the West,' the mountaintop temple complex includes buildings that jut dramatically out over the cliffside terrain.

Source:Official Himeji City and Himeji Tourism Convention Bureau information

Correct answer16 species

When Himeji Municipal Zoo opened in December 1951, its collection amounted to just 16 species and 56 animals in total, a modest start shaped by the material shortages of the postwar reconstruction years. That small opening-day roster stands in sharp contrast to the far larger, more diverse collection the zoo maintains today.

Source:History of Himeji Municipal Zoo

Correct answerShowa 22

The Ieshima Islands were incorporated into Setonaikai National Park in 1947, more than a decade after the park itself was first designated. Setonaikai National Park, established in 1934, was among the very first national parks created in Japan, and the Ieshima Islands are protected today as part of its scattered, multi-island seascape.

Source:Overview of the Ieshima Area

Correct answerSanyo Electric Railway's Shirahamanomiya Station

Matsubara Hachiman Shrine, the venue for the Nada Fighting Festival, is about a five-minute walk from Shirahamanomiya Station on the Sanyo Electric Railway's main line. On festival days the area gets crowded enough to warrant extra trains and traffic controls, making that rail line the main way most visitors arrive.

Source:Nada Fighting Festival

Correct answerAzuchi-Momoyama period

Himeji's white-tanned leather became widely known during the Azuchi-Momoyama period, when it was used for warriors' armor and horse tack and was even presented as a gift to figures such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Its flexibility and durability come from a distinctive tanning process that relies on nothing more than rapeseed oil and salt.

Source:Himeji Shironameshi Leather Craft

Correct answer1st

According to the 2021 Economic Census, Himeji has eight department stores and general supermarkets combined, ranking first among Japan's 62 core cities for that count. The figure is often cited as evidence of a level of retail density that outstrips what the city's population size alone would suggest is possible.

Source:Himeji City Profile

Correct answerRoju (senior councilor)

Sakai Tadazumi, who moved to Himeji from Maebashi Domain in 1749, held the powerful shogunate post of roju, a senior councilor overseeing national affairs on behalf of the shogun. Placing a daimyo of that rank in charge of Himeji reflects how strategically important the city was as a watch post over western Japan.

Source:Himeji Domain

Correct answerThe Shoshazan Ropeway opened → The gondola cars were enlarged → New cars were introduced → The summit observation deck was completed

The Shoshazan Ropeway opened in 1958 and has since become one of Himeji's signature pieces of tourist transport, linking the mountaintop with the valley below. Its gondola cars were enlarged in 1992, new cars were introduced for its 60th anniversary in 2018, and a summit observation deck was completed in 2022, each upgrade arriving in stages.

Source:About the Shoshazan Ropeway

Correct answerIt opened as a zoo → A red panda arrived for the first time → A taxidermied giant panda, "Ran Ran," was exhibited → Cumulative visitors passed 25 million

Himeji Municipal Zoo opened in 1951, followed by the first arrival of a red panda in 1973, the exhibition of a taxidermied giant panda named Ran Ran in 1982, and the milestone of 25 million cumulative visitors in 2005, marking out the zoo's growth across more than half a century.

Source:History of Himeji Municipal Zoo

Correct answerMt. Tegara → Mt. Masui → Mt. Sepiko

Comparing peaks around Himeji by elevation, Mt. Tegara, close to the city center, is the lowest at about 50 meters, followed by Mt. Masui at roughly 259 meters. Mt. Sepiko, part of a prefectural park, rises past 800 meters, tall enough to count as a genuine hiking destination within the city limits.

Source:Tegarayama Central Park

Correct answerHimeji Castle is one of them / Hikone Castle and Matsumoto Castle are also among them / Their keeps, built before the Edo period, still survive today

Of Japan's twelve original castles, only five, Matsumoto, Inuyama, Hikone, Himeji, and Matsue, hold National Treasure status; the remaining seven are ranked as Important Cultural Properties instead. Simply having a keep that predates the Edo period isn't enough on its own to earn the higher National Treasure designation.

Source:About the 12 Original Castles