A ridiculously large castle suddenly appears in an ordinary urban area of Hyogo.
That is Taiyo Park. This castle seems to be called Shiratori Castle.
The motif is Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.
How can you go inside?
In front of you is a castle towering high on a cliff or rather a hill. It’s hard to convey in the photo, but the real thing is quite impressive and oppressive.
About Shiratori Castle (white area)
This castle is probably the highlight of Taiyo Park. It’s just something I saw while browsing Google Maps, but I was really surprised to see it in real life.
The environment doesn’t seem to be as well maintained as Disneyland or USJ, so you can walk on a public road with no sidewalks for a while from the parking lot, and watch the boys playing baseball next to you.
I head toward the castle as if I’m being drawn to it.
About admission fees and reception building
When we entered the building, there was a ticket machine. 1500 yen for one adult.
Considering the construction and maintenance costs of such a castle, it was an acceptable amount.
The building I just entered was orange and brick.
It contains shops and restaurants. It has a somewhat rusty, retro feel to it, like a rural Aeon, but I like it just the way it is.
You can go up to the castle by monorail or on foot, but apparently there are only two or three round trips an hour on weekdays.
土日はひっきりなしに行ったり来たりすると書かれている。
It is said that you can walk there, but since I wanted to take the monorail, I decided to spend my time just looking around at the facilities.
There are several limited edition goods and retro game consoles, so you can have a fun time here.
About monorail
The monorail has arrived. There was only one other passenger besides me, a couple.
Visibility is quite good.
Although it cannot hide its age, it seems to be working fine as a vehicle. There’s nothing particularly dangerous about it from a safety standpoint. The impression is that maintenance has been minimal.
It’s rusty, or rather it’s old, and it’s very dirty, but if you look closely, there doesn’t seem to be any type of deterioration like holes or decaying materials.
There is some kind of harness or cable buried underground. I wonder if the yellow one is what stops the car when the brakes break?
Given that, I’m concerned about the capacity, so I wonder if it’s supported by a structure similar to a tilted elevator.
There was no emergency stop button…
The emergency stop button seems to have been relocated properly. However, if someone suddenly becomes ill or a violent incident occurs on the train, it would be safer to quickly go to the terminal station, so I can’t think of any other situation to press this button other than when an earthquake early warning is issued.
I found the stamp of a construction company. It seems to be a model called KMR-40. Apparently there are companies that install monorails like this.
It is equipped with air conditioning so it will be cool even in summer.
The restaurant’s menu was advertised in prominent places.
It seems that the movie “GARO -Moon Rainbow Traveler” was filmed at this castle.
I watched the trailer, and it was very interesting to see that more shots were taken in this castle than I expected.
I highly recommend watching this one-minute trailer before or after you go.
I want to see this movie.
Now, the monorail has started climbing. I was in the back of the train, so I couldn’t really see the scenery heading towards the castle. I think it’s better to ride in the lead car for the first time.
The monorail travel speed was slow and a bit shaky, but I was able to move around without getting bored.
Even when seen up close, it is incredibly large. I wish I could get into this…
Proper fire extinguishing equipment is also installed.
There were toilets on every floor of the castle, so it’s clear that water and sewage lines run all the way to the top of this hill. I wonder how much it cost…
If you look closely, the basic shape and construction may be the same as the LOVE Hotel.
Come to think of it, LOVE Hotel is not that unusual for a building that looks like a castle…
A light that seems to be used to illuminate at night.
I climbed to a reasonable height so I could see far away. It’s a peaceful countryside view.
When he came around to the entrance, his expression changed again.
Go to a square surrounded by a white outer wall. I used to build something like this…
About the inside of the castle
In fact, contrary to its appearance, the inside is actually a footy building. The interior is not as spacious as it looks.
There is no castle-like feel to the interior. I guess it’s made in the same way as Raho.
Now, the inside of this castle is just a simple trick art museum .
I’ll be uploading photos of the exhibition contents for a while, but feel free to skim through them.
Fire brigade entrances are carefully prepared.
A sticker disguised as stained glass.
Things like this are placed everywhere, so you will never get tired of looking at them.
I can see the scenery outside every time. We’ll keep increasing the altitude.
There are many exhibits of mysterious dolls, so you will be walking a long distance.
It doesn’t really look like it should, but when you go inside the emergency staircase, it looks like this.
The illuminated building models are beautiful.
There are plenty of exhibits that will make you want to take photos and have fun.
There is also a magic circle area where the floor glows.
Depending on the timing, this space can also be turned into a cafe. It wasn’t open when I went.
A recreation of the Nutcracker manufacturing studio.
If you smoke here, you’ll be in trouble.
Exhibitions of mysterious concepts continue like this.
Let’s go outside after watching.
I didn’t feel like the white interior exhibits were quite right, but
I walked out thinking, “This is still an amazing building…”
I was tired of waiting for the monorail, so I walked down the hill on my way home.
I can hear the voices of boys playing baseball.
Next is the stone area. I walked along a path with no footpath or center line.
About the stone area
arrival.
I entered the stone area without even knowing what it was.
Vending machine prices are reasonable.
I walked along a path that was lined with stone ornaments that looked like famous places from all over the world.
As you can see from the fact that the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is located here, it is a World Park-like facility that is scattered all over Japan.
The most interesting thing is the preservation facility for the Terracotta Warriors.
Even though I know it’s a fake, there’s something in my heart when I’m shown this scene, knowing the story of the Terracotta Warriors.
Terracotta warriors on one side. I was able to feel a little bit of the culture of the former Chinese dynasty.
The fact that it is constantly falling apart is probably a reproduction of that kind of worldview.
There is a pond if you walk a little further.
A place reminiscent of Tiananmen Square in China. No tanks appear.
You might think it’s a simple Haribote, but the coloring is also carefully finished.
having a lot to see as a walking course in the great outdoors . It is likely to be rated as
By the way, you can also go to the base of the two towers visible in the back.
A cobblestone walking course in the mountains that resembles the Great Wall of China.
Although this course lasts so long that it seems endless, the road is tiring and there isn’t much to see, so it might not be worth stopping by.
It was so exhausting that I gave up and turned back.
I walked again and came to the pyramid area.
When I looked closely, I saw a large amount of 1 yen coins thrown away. Paper tickets from a few days ago were also thrown away on the ground, making it hard to tell whether it was safe or abandoned.
It has been shown that a mechanism similar to NFT was introduced in ancient currencies.
A house on stilts.
This area is so steep that, to be honest, it’s getting hard to walk.
I ended up buying a drink.
In the end, we stayed for about 2 hours.
On this day, I stayed at a nearby business hotel. Late at night, I headed out to the Osaka area to catch a ride on C+Pod.
This inn had all-you-can-eat curry, or rather free take-out, so I took the plunge and ate a large amount.
It seems to be a place called Hotel Himeji Hills.
