Castles of the Kansai Region.

Übersicht: Dating from the Late 15th Century through to the early 16th Century, castle construction in Japan was at it's peak.They were built to guard important or strategic sites, such as ports,river-crossings or crossroads and almost always incorporated the landscape in their defence.Though they were built to last, and used more stone in their construction than most Japanese buildings,castles were constructed primarily of wood, and many were destroyed over the years.
Today there are more than one-hundred castles extant, or partly extant, in Japan, and, at one point, there was estimated to be some five-thousand castles in existence.
In this bundle I will be providing information on seven castles in the Kansai Region, one castle from each Prefecture - Osaka,Kyoto,Hyogo,Wakayama,Shiga,Mie and Nara.
Each destination is easily accessible. Some castles will be small (like in the case if Hikone castle),whereas there will be the large complexes (like Himeji castle).As well as information on the castle, I will include information on activities and sites in the area.With some of the Guides I will give you directions to and from the castle, leaving your route, once inside,up to you. As with others I will guide you through other venues worth visiting.
Some of the castles will still be in their original condition, whereas some will be reconstructed or ruins.
From time to time I will use Japanese words, to describe the P.O.I, with the English translation in brackets.
I would like to acknowledge the assistance I received from the following websites - "Japanese Castle Explorer", "Jcastle.info" and "Wikipedia" - for allowing me to access their 'sites to research and use in gathering the information for the guides in this Bundle. I cannot express enough my gratitude. Thank you.

Tipps: The transportation system in Japan is second-to-none and one can get to all the major cities as well as the most isolated towns and villages. You can set your watch to the timetable the trains run to.The destinations covered in this bundle are easily accessible from all cities and towns in the Kansai Region as well as other parts of Japan.
What to wear depends on what time of year you visit, so I suggest you dress accordingly.
Food and drink wise. There is a vending-machine on most corners, and a combination store on the other. Failing that, there are many restaurants & cafes providing local fare.
Also there will be the Souvenir shop nearby to help you with that little something to take home to family and friends.