World Art Utopia

Himeji Castle — Ikeda Terumasa, Himeji

Close view of Himeji Castle’s white main keep with layered grey-tiled roofs, framed by a stone wall, a white turret and trees
Artwork FileHimeji, Japan

Himeji Castle

StandingMay 2025

Ikeda Terumasa · castle complex rebuilt 1601–1609 · hilltop in central Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan

Photo: Gilles Desjardins / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), taken 2 November 2016, as published on Street Art Utopia.

Himeji Castle is the white hilltop castle complex of Himeji, which daimyō Ikeda Terumasa rebuilt and expanded between 1601 and 1609. In You Only Live Twice (1967) it played Tiger Tanaka’s ninja training school, where Bond watches the trainees throw shuriken. Source Source Source Source Checked

Standing May 2025: a Commons photo with camera date 11 May 2025 shows the main keep standing at the end of the avenue from Himeji Station; another, dated 25 October 2024, shows the keep complex up close. Source Source Checked

More photos

Himeji Castle’s main keep enclosed in a steel scaffolding structure with two cranes during its restoration, above wooded grounds
2010 Keep inside restoration scaffoldingPhoto: Corpse Reviver / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

💡 4 things to know

  1. Bond’s ninja school
    The castle stood in for Tiger Tanaka’s ninja training school in You Only Live Twice; Kobe Shimbun recalls ninjas throwing shuriken in front of a white wall while Bond watches. Source Source Source Checked
  2. Ikeda’s 1601–1609 rebuild
    Ikeda Terumasa replaced, repaired and expanded the existing fortifications in a major overhaul between 1601 and 1609, the castle as it is seen today. Source Source Source Checked
  3. Wrapped in scaffolding
    The main keep was fully restored from 2009 to 2015, hidden inside a roofed scaffolding, and completed in March 2015; it was the first such work since 1964. Source Source Source Checked
  4. Early World Heritage site
    According to Wikipedia, Himeji Castle was registered on 11 December 1993 as one of Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Sites; UNESCO calls it the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture. Source Source Reported

📍 Where it is

On a hilltop in the centre of Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, on the central Harima Plain, at the end of the main avenue north of JR Himeji Station. Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Map pin 34.8394, 134.6939, approximate, from this source. The button opens a plain map.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 199311 Dec

    Registered as World Heritage

  2. 2009Oct

    Keep restoration begins

  3. 201018 Sep

    Keep inside restoration scaffolding

  4. 2015Mar

    Keep restoration completed

  5. 20162 Nov

    Keep photographed from inside walls

  6. 202425 Oct

    Keep complex photographed

  7. 202511 May

    Seen from Himeji Station

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Kobe Shimbun NEXT29 March 2023

忍者が江戸期の姫路で暗躍?! 家臣の情報まとめた史料に「伊賀者」、他人の家に堂々侵入できる「鷹匠」も

“１９６７年公開のスパイ映画「００７は二度死ぬ」のロケ地となった姫路城は、作品の中で忍者の訓練施設として描かれていた。”

“Himeji Castle, a location for the spy film “You Only Live Twice” released in 1967, was portrayed in the film as a ninja training facility.”

Read the source →

The Japan Times26 March 2015 (date from URL)

Article on the end of the Himeji Castle keep restoration

“The renovations, which began in October 2009, were the first since 1964.”

Read the source →

James Bond Radio1 March 2017

Fifty years on: A Visit to Himeji Castle by Nicholas Knight

“to the James Bond fan, it’s Tiger Tanaka’s ninja training school in ‘You Only Live Twice’”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Built
Rebuilt and expanded 1601–1609 (site fortified earlier) Source Source Source Checked
Builder
Ikeda Terumasa (1565–1613), lord of the castle Source Source Checked
Restorations
Shōwa era (completed 1964); main keep 2009–2015 Source Source Source Checked
World Heritage
Registered 11 December 1993 (according to Wikipedia) Source Reported
Film
You Only Live Twice (1967) Source Source Source Checked
Film role
Tiger Tanaka’s ninja training school Source Source Source Checked
Place
Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan Source Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 9 November 2026. How we verify art