Cultural Properties and Historic Sites in the Areas Surrounding Himeji Castle Town
Former Furui Family Residence
National Treasure (Structure)
Location：
233-1 Minago, Yasutomi-cho, Himeji City
Public Access：
Open to the public on Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays.
Overview：The Former Furui Family Residence is believed to have been built around the 15th century by the Furui family, a powerful and influential local family at the time. Because of its great age, the residence is also known as the “Thousand-Year House of Minago.”
The building has an irimoya-zukuri roof, a traditional Japanese roof style in which the upper section is a gable roof (sloping in two directions) and the lower section is a hipped roof (sloping in four directions). The roof is covered with thatch.
The exterior walls are built using the traditional ōkabe-zukuri technique, in which the walls are thickly covered with earthen material. There are relatively few windows and openings, giving the building a closed and solid appearance from the outside.
Inside, the house has three main rooms: one room at the front and two rooms at the back. This three-room layout is considered one of the basic forms that influenced the design of traditional residences in the Kinki region during the early modern period.
The Former Furui Family Residence is an extremely valuable example of a traditional Japanese house dating back to the medieval period. It is one of the oldest surviving residences of its kind and provides important information about people’s lives and the landscape of medieval Japan.
Engyoji Temple
Nationally Designated Important Cultural Properties (Structure), and others
Location：
2968 Shosha, Himeji City
Public Access：
Open to the public.
Overview：
Engyoji Temple was founded in 966 and belongs to the Tendai school of Buddhism.
It is a highly prestigious temple and is often called the “Hieizan of Western Japan,” in reference to Hieizan Enryakuji Temple. During the medieval period, it was regarded as one of the three major training centers of the Tendai school.
Although Engyoji is located far from Kyoto, it received strong support and devotion from members of the imperial family and the aristocracy. Many emperors and retired emperors visited the temple.
The temple complex extends across much of Mount Shosha and has been designated a National Historic Site. The extensive grounds contain 14 important buildings, including the Maniden, Daikodo, Jikidou, Jogyodo, and Kaizando. Ten Buddhist statues, including a wooden statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, are also designated as Nationally Important Cultural Properties. In addition, many other historic buildings, Buddhist statues, and other cultural properties have been preserved within the temple grounds.
Hiromine Shrine
Nationally Designated Important Cultural Properties (Structure), and others
Location：
52 Hiromineyama, Himeji City
Public Access：
Open to the public(interiors of building are not open to the public)
Overview：
Hiromine Shrine has long been widely worshipped as a shrine closely associated with Gozu Tenno, a deity with roots in Japanese and East Asian religious traditions. Many shrines were established as branches of Hiromine Shrine. Kyoto’s Yasaka Shrine, formerly known as Gion Shrine, is traditionally said to have been transferred from Hiromine Shrine in 869.
The main sanctuary, which is designated as a Nationally Important Cultural Property, was rebuilt in 1444. It is a very large building, measuring 11 bays across the front and four bays along the sides.The worship hall is also designated as a Nationally Important Cultural Property. Like the main sanctuary, it is a large-scale structure and stands directly in front of the main sanctuary, with the two buildings positioned very close together.
Hiromine Shrine also preserves a wide range of historical materials, including the Hiromine Shrine Documents, a collection of records dating from the Kamakura period through the Edo period.
Zuiganji Temple
Nationally Designated Important Cultural Properties (Structure), and others
Location：
5 Shirakuni, Himeji City
Public Access：
Open to the public (interiors of building are not open to the public)
Overview：
Zuiganji Temple is a Tendai Buddhist temple traditionally believed to have been founded during the Nara period. Around 1649, it became the family temple of the Sakakibara family, who served as lords of the Himeji domain. A family temple is a Buddhist temple where a family traditionally worships and holds memorial services for its ancestors and deceased family members.
The main hall, built in 1692, is designated as a Nationally Important Cultural Property. The building features elaborate decoration and a powerful, richly designed appearance. It is considered a valuable example of a large Buddhist hall built during the middle of the Edo period.
Other buildings, including the Kaizando, are also designated as Nationally Important Cultural Properties. These structures have excellent architectural designs and, together with the main hall, form an impressive temple complex spread across the mountain.
The temple also possesses numerous works of art and craft, including a wooden standing statue of Bishamonten, which is designated as a Nationally Important Cultural Property.
The Historic Streetscape of Shikama and the Shikama-Himon (sluice gate through an embankment)
Location：
Historic Streetscape of Shikama／ Gokou, Miya, Ohama, Tenjin, and other areas of Shikama Ward, Himeji City, Shikama-Himon Gate／ 886 Hoshiro, Himeji City
Overview：
The present-day Shikama district was known as Shikama Port (Shikama-tsu) during the Edo period.
Shikama Port was developed as the outer port of Himeji Castle Town.
The Ofunade Yakusho, or naval administration office of the Himeji domain, was located there. The port also served as an important logistics center for transporting goods to Himeji Castle Town using boats traveling along the Senba River.
Even today, many traditional townhouses remain along the Shikama Highway and in other parts of Shikama. These buildings provide a sense of the lively atmosphere of the town in the past.
The Shikama-Himon Gate, meanwhile, was built to regulate the amount of water in the river for boat transportation along the Senba River and to help protect the castle town from flooding. The Shikama-Himon Gate remains in the Hoshiro area in northern Himeji City.
Kameyama Hontokuji Temple
Hyogo Prefecturally Designated Cultural Properties (Structure), and others
Location：
324 Kameyama, Himeji City
Public Access：
Open to the public (interior of building are not open to the public)
Overview：
Kameyama Hontokuji Temple is a temple belonging to the Honganji-ha branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.
Its history began with Hontokuji Temple, which was established in Aga in western Himeji in 1515.
Later, Aga Hontokuji was demolished by Hashiba Hideyoshi, and the temple was moved to its present location in Kameyama.
The current main hall, great audience hall, monks’ quarters, and sutra repository are designated as cultural properties by Hyogo Prefecture. In addition, 15 buildings, including the Great Entrance, as well as the four-volume Illustrated Biography of Shinran, are designated as cultural properties by Himeji City.
The main hall is one of the largest Buddhist halls in Hyogo Prefecture. The original main hall was destroyed by fire in 1868. The present main hall was created by relocating a building called the Kita Shukaisho, which originally stood at Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto.