Himeji Castle, Dotonbori
Ah, well, I had a good run. Today tsuyu finally caught up with me: it was hot and rainy, just like they'd promised me my entire stay would be. I got incredible weather until now, though, so I can't complain! (I may still complain a bit) Undaunted by the rain, I set on my journey to Himeji. It is 90 km west of Osaka, but it's on the shinkansen line so the train ride takes just 29 minutes! And when a Japanese train says 29 minutes, it is not 28 or 30, it is exactly twenty-nine minutes. Once again, the JR Pass pays for itself (a one-way ticket would have cost me maybe €40 without it, so in practice I would have taken a regional train that would have taken twice as long). When I got off at Himeji station, the castle was immediately visible at the end of the large avenue that connects the two points. The castle is also called The White Egret, which to me was puzzling: the "white" part is because the walls and the roofs are covered in plaster (by comparison, pict