Japanese Castles
I didn’t pay attention to memorial stamps at castles in 2023. I would usually get some kind of small souvenir and move on.
I’ve seen Castle memorial stamps, but I didn’t care much for it. Until I saw the “Best 24 Castles”. Which was very cool as it was meant for tourists. Then I came across ‘100 Best Castles‘ book/stamp book and after that, I was kind of fascinated.
24 Best Castles Stamp Rally – made for tourists.
1st 100 Best Castles
100 Best Castles
While research, I came across this book. It also comes with a stamp book in the back or some versions, you stamp in this book.
I ordered A 100 Best Castles book (their are different variations). I was trying to get this before I went on my trip to Japan. Unfortunately, I got A 100 Best Castle book, but it was a continuation (Next 100 Best Castles).
Since I had planned to visit a lot of castles on this trip, I had little time to get a 100 Best castles stamp book.
See, I went to Himeji on my 2nd day, and I needed a book right away. I ended up using one of the notebooks as my Castle book.
Castle Stamp book
2024
Since I couldn’t find one in time, I decided to use the book I had. Since I don’t live in Japan and didn’t have the time like a resident, I accepted that I can only do what I could. , I wouldn’t be able to complete those official stamp rallies anyways due to being an infrequent tourist.
The castle memorial stamps were smaller compared to something like the JR eki stamps. So I could fit a few on 1 page.
When I visited Himeji Castle in 2023, there was NOBODY there and I had the whole place to myself. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking about memorial stamps or Gojoin (another story). When I went back this time (March 2024), there was a massive line and I decided to “move on”. The next castle to visit was Okayama Castle. I have never been there, but it wasn’t as crowded as Himeji. I also got free Washi tape, hence when you look at the picture the notebook, it has the Okayama tape along the spine.
While it isn’t as cool as having a stamp book with a dedicated slot for 200 castles, it’s fine by me.
