Himeji Castle with its white keep is one of Japan's most famous castles. But its beauty is deceiving. The paths to the keep follow the hill's gradient and hold many surprises for potential attackers.

If I could time travel, I probably wouldn’t choose Japan during the late 15th- to early 17th-centuries. Those were times of great upheaval and constant civil wars, as feudal lords (daimyo) staked out ...

There is something deeply magnetic about a locked door, a sealed wall, or a staircase that vanishes into silence. Castles have stood for centuries as symbols of power and grandeur, but behind their ...

There is definitely an undeniable allure in castles which are not simply historical landmarks but functional buildings. Though many famous castles around the world have been turned into museums, there ...