by Sean Lindsay

Created on: February 06, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

A two hour train ride northeast of the city of Osaka lies Hikone: A sleepy little castle town that straddles the coastline of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. Not many tourists make their way to Hikone, and the ones who do comprise mainly of the older Japanese generation. But to the select travelers that do find themselves in Hikone (like myself), the atmosphere alone of this old town has a magnetic pull on all those with even the slightest interest in Japan's rich historic past.

As the scenery around me gradually changes from the grey urban sprawl to that of green rural countryside, I watch as concrete, steel and glass are transformed into trees, rice fields and rivers. An hour later, I find myself pushing beyond the borders of Kyoto and in to the Shiga region, an area completely opposite to Osaka in almost every way. Buildings are replaced by rolling hills as the train rockets through a pair of dark tunnels that pierce through two of them. An hour later, I find myself in Hikone, and already appreciative of the drastic reduction in noise around me. For as the train pulls of from the station the quietness hits me almost instantly, and only then realize how accustomed one becomes to the noise of a bustling city like Osaka over time. The silence almost seems surreal as I walk down the stairs and exit the station.

Out in front of the station, a large bronzed statue of a samurai warrior mounted on a horse stands as the iconic symbol of Hikone. The Japanese call Hikone a "castle town", and for good reason. There was a time when the mythical samurai and their families roamed freely through the streets of Hikone (as the geisha did in Kyoto). Majestically perched high atop a hill overlooking Hikone is Hikone Castle, the town's star attraction and one of a handful of "original" castles left in Japan.

World War II dealt a devastating blow to much of Japan's historical architectural wonders. Cities like Osaka and Nagoya were flattened by air raids and bombings that completely destroyed many of Japan's magnificent castles as well. Fortune smiled on Hikone however, leaving Hikone Castle largely intact, leaving it one of the last surviving castles. Built in the 17th century, Hikone Castle requires a bit of a hike to reach her at the summit of the hill upon which it stands. After crossing two moats and climbing a number of stone steps, I cross over one final wooden bridge that takes me within the interior protective walls that surround the main castle or donjon' as referred

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