Himeji Castle and Kobe Beef

Day Seven

BREAKFAST

Breakfast was at the hotel. Staying in Mitsui Garden Hotel it has an allegedly good breakfast buffet. I felt rude taking photos in such a setting, but it really is good. With a mix of Japanese and Western-style food, there's a good range for a light meal or a good, hearty start to the day. Furthermore, it's situated on the 26th floor of the hotel, giving an incredible view of the surrounding area.

HIMEJI CASTLE

Following breakfast we headed to the station to catch a shinkansen in the Osaka direction: we had two stops first, however. The first was Himeji Castle in Himeji, on the way to Osaka. The station has labels to point tourists in the direction of the castle, exiting the station and walking in a long, straight line for about 15 minutes, around 2km in the direction of the castle.


The castle from outside the grounds

Entrance was ¥600 per person, paid either at a counter or through a ticket machine, designed similarly to the ones in train stations.
Gated entrance to the castle
Closer, from within the grounds

 Himeji Castle is gorgeous. The main building, unfortunately, was closed down for maintenance in the time we visited, but access to the surrounding towers was open. Shoes are removed and placed into plastic bags while slippers are provided to walk around in.
Inside the surrounding towers
The hallway
The towers are beautiful, but there are three flights of stairs that one must ascend to continue on the one-way route of the building. These stairs are extremely steep with minimal form of assistance, so those with bad footing should take caution.
It's hard to catch the steepness of something - especially these stairs.

HIMEJI STATION : IMAGAWAYAKI

Himeji station has a beautiful little outdoor area, and near the entrance to get to the castle is a stand that sells imagawayaki, a sweet Japanese bean-filled cake similar to that of taiyaki, but plain and round in shape. These sold at about ¥180 from memory, and had the option of red bean or white bean, which has a similar sweet flavour but less of the distinct flavour of red beans.
Outside Himeji station



LUNCH (AND DINNER) : KOBE BEEF

With transport, walking, sight-seeing, and snacking, we had previously anticipated that it might be quite late before we would have lunch, but none of us were particularly upset about it. I requested a meal of teppan-yaki (Japanese hot plate) at least once while in Japan (without including okonomiyaki), which made Mom jump in with the opportunity to suggest Kobe beef, so arriving at around three without having eaten a proper meal since seven in the morning made us less grouchy than it normally would have.
Outside Sannoymiya station on the way to lunch

 This was one of the places where we became lost in a mound of exits. I eventually found a place I recognised from excessive Google Maps touring, which led us to our intended destination of Steakland. We waited outdoors for another 15 minutes, watching as chefs indoors rushed around carrying huge trays of marbled beef and vegetables. We were seated eventually, and given a limited menu to choose from. We ordered four sets, two of the tender steak set and two of the Kobe beef set to share between the five of us.
Cooking on a teppan
These were prepared before us. The chef asked how we wanted our meat cooked (medium), and whether we would be sharing. When we said yes, he divided each slab of meat into five portions so we could each have our own. Excellent service!
Kobe beef and less expensive beef, seasoned simply with salt and pepper 
The set meal: rice, soup, salad, a dipping sauce for vegetables, and a dipping sauce for the beef, and after the meal, orange juice or coffee.
The almost-full plate. I'd already eaten one piece of normal beef (lower row) and one of Kobe beef (upper row) by this time. It's served with a piece of courgette, enokitake mushrooms, konnyaku, garlic chips, and bean sprouts and bok choi grilled with the fat from the beef which coated the teppan hotplate. The topmost piece of meat is the fat from the Kobe beef.
Biting Kobe beef against the grain - it comes off with minimal effort like it's salmon sashimi

 Kobe beef, what can I say. It's possibly one of the most expensive cuts of meat available to buy, and for good reason. Just at a glance, the marbling between the normal beef and Kobe beef is distinguishable. It wasn't quite the melt-in-the-mouth, no-chewing-required texture that I expected, but it was wonderfully tender, and tasted almost like full fat butter-soaked beef. Even if it's good, if you're not one for fat it might be less enjoyable. After the meal, we were so full we agreed no dinner was necessary, and the feeling of the fat on our lips lingered for a couple of hours after. As we wandered Kobe after lunch shopping, we were aware of the smell that clung onto our clothes and breath. Bring a mint. Bring deodorant. It doesn't escape for hours.

 Cons
- Expensive. We totalled around ¥17,000 between the five of us for four meals, resulting in the most expensive meal we ate in Japan. But it's expected with beef this high quality.
- Your clothes will smell of food. You will have the essence of beef all over your face for several hours.

 Pros
- The beef was amazing overall.
- It was a fantastic experience, and it truly was delicious.

 Rating 19/23. We all agreed it had been a good idea to share four, not only for the price but also as it was quite a heavy meal. The marbling on the beef would have made it even heavier, and I can't imagine consuming 200g of it to myself. We also agreed that if there came another chance, we would try Wagyu beef instead; still very high in quality, it has less fat, making for a lighter meal with a stronger meat flavour and less of the fatty feeling.

KOBE


We had some time so we opted to stay in Kobe for another couple of hours before continuing to Osaka, where we would be staying for the last couple of days. Sadly, two hours isn't enough time to get the feel of the city. We went to a couple of department stores, but shortly after we boarded the train, checked in and retired to our hotel in Osaka.
One of many department stores in the surrounding area



End Day 7

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