A visit to Himeiji Castle

In July, with the school, we visited the Himeji Castle. For a more precise account on this castle and location near Kobe, there is an article on Wikipedia here. Interesting fact: it was used as a location for a 1967 James Bond movie!

There is a Legend surrounding the castle. During the construction, the head carpenter made sure to care about every single detail. One day, around the time of near completition, the wife of the carpenter looked at the castle and said "Honey, It doesn't look straight...". At this point, after the carpenter check it again and indeed saw it wasn't straight, he chosed to end his days jumping from the top of the tower.

Apparently, the castle is really not 100% straight... and the legend might even be true...

The day ended with a visit at a "Sumomo" plantation. In japanese "momo" means Peach and "Suppai" means Sour. The both togheter "SU-MOMO" are the name of this fruit that is one variety of Sour Plum. Although some were sour, if you were luck to pick the right one, they were kind of Sweet...

The day was soo hot, that just few of us went out picking fruits. The Japanese summer is really hot and humid...

Interesting thing: when does the Japanese Summer end? August 31st! Well, it might come to a surprise in europe, as summer time ends September 21st. Apparently in many countries in Asia, Seasons change at the end of the month, and not as in europe the 21st of the month. Good to know ;)