Himeji-jo, the White Heron Castle, is the finest surviving example of a Japanese feudal castle and one of only twelve original castles in the country. Its gleaming white plastered walls and tiered roofs rise above the city in a complex, elegant silhouette that has dominated this stretch of the Sanyo coast since the early 1600s. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage site in 1993, alongside Nara's Buddhist monuments — the first cultural properties from Japan to make the list.
The six-storey main keep is the centrepiece, but the real pleasure is the walk up to it. The castle was designed as a defensive maze: paths bend back on themselves, gates open into killing zones, and from the outer baileys you keep losing sight of the keep and finding it again. Allow at least two hours, longer in cherry blossom season when the grounds become one of Japan's most famous hanami spots. Climb to the top floor for the view back over the city to the Inland Sea.