Himeji Castle replica took builder 19 years

[Guchi_Jnr]

Hiroyasu Imura spent 19 years pursuing his boyhood dream of faithfully producing a replica of Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture.

The 69-year-old former insurance examiner completed his model of Himeji Castle at a scale of 1:23 in the garden of his home in Ise, Mie Prefecture, in April.

Since completing the model, Imura has been deluged with visitors. The replica has even impressed a curator of the municipal castle research office in the city of Himeji, where the real fortress stands.

The castle was listed in 1993 as a UNESCO World Heritage site along with Horyuji Temple in the ancient capital of Nara.


Hiroyasu Imura works on his Himeji Castle replica in the backyard of his home in Enza, Mie Prefecture.

Nice...Wonder if the guy also included the seppuku (samurai suicide) area? Guess he must have..

[thatguy]

he should create several thousand scaled-people to represent all of the tourists that hound the castle

[nop]

The power and will of hobbyist.  No wonder Open Source Software is so great.

[Guchi_Jnr]

he should create several thousand scaled-people to represent all of the tourists that hound the castle

I must be lucky, cause the 2times I've been there, there were only around 50 or so others..

But yeah, I know what you mean.. Some touristy places are just crazy packed.

[thatguy]

some tourists. there were actually so many people that you had to wait to get inside, in order not to over-weigh the castle inside.


some people wanted to clim the castle, hehe

[schol3s]

damn.... the old man in good....
feel like trying it out too...
but i rather spend 18 million yen on something else man....

[chibilolli]

he should create several thousand scaled-people to represent all of the tourists that hound the castle

When I went there as well it was very quiet. I think in some areas there wasn't anyone about. Just me, a guy that was on the tour with me and the tour guide. It was quite a windy day though. Must've put people off.

[makeme]

12 years to do the stone wall alone!?
Damn, talk about being focused. Would have gave up after the first week.