Himeji

Himeji is a core city in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan's Kansai region, on the central western part of the Harima Plain, with the Seto Inland Sea to its south and the Ieshima Islands within its city limits. As of 2025 it had a population of 518,311, ranking 26th among Japanese cities, and its economy combines coastal heavy industry such as steel mills and chemical plants with inland agriculture and tourism. The city is best known for Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site nicknamed the white heron, which has survived more than 400 years including extensive air raids in 1945 that destroyed much of the rest of the city. Himeji today draws visitors as a less crowded alternative to nearby Osaka. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/