Odu Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideoshi unified Japan. Toyotomi Hideoshi's Tomb in Kyoto was located at the top of an arduous staircase walk on a mountain.

The long climb up to Hideoshi's tomb, a small mountain at the back of the national Art Museum

The national art museum had a Renoir exhibition when I was there Nov 2002

People who climbed up with me to the stop of this mountain up to his tomb, would clap their hands loudly and bow. This was their way to pay respects at shrines. Dozens People made this long sweaty climb just to see this tomb. However, most of the people I saw were not at the tomb of the tomb, but rather in various stages of rest and climb to the top.

Osaka Castle dominated the landscape of Osaka. This was the residence of Toyotomi Hideoshi Visiting his looming castle residence at Osaka-Jyo was visually spectacular. The stone monster dominated the Osaka vista.

I would not have wanted to try to lay seige to this castle with a vast and deep moat surrounding it. This was the main building of Osaka Castle.

The castle had a huge gate that was the main entrance to the castle. I arrived when it was nearly dark (at dusk) and had to set the camera to long time exposures later shotes , I nearly turned night into day blurring anything in motiong.

The Kokoen Garden is a beautiful garden located next to the Himeji Castle complex. It was built in 1992 at the site of the lord's west residence, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Himeji municipality. The garden is 3.5 hectares and has nine different gardens. Picture taken June 18, 2023

Himeji Castle is largest castle Japan situated in the city of Himeji in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan. The castle is the finest surviving example of Japanese castle architecture, comprising of 83 rooms with defensive systems from the feudal period. It is known as Hakuro-jo or Shirasagi-jo ("White Egret Castle" or "White Heron Castle") because of its white exterior resembling a bird taking flight. In 1333 Akamatsu Norimura built a fort on top of Himeyama hill. The fort was dismantled and rebuilt as Himeyama Castle in 1346 and then remodeled into Himeji Castle 200 years later. In 1581, Himeji Castle was remodeled by Toyotomi Hideyoshi adding a 3-story castle keep. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu gave it to Ikeda Terumasa for help in the Battle of Sekigahara. Ikeda rebuilt the castle from 1601 to 1609, expanding it into a large castle complex. Buildings were added by Honda Tadamasa from 1617 to 1618. For 700 years, it has remained intact, even through the bombing of Himeji in World War II, and the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake. Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan. It was registered in 1993 as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country. The middle moat is a Special Historic Site and 5 structures of the castle are National Treasures. Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle, Himeji Castle are Japan's three premier castles.