Shosekiheki Observation Deck

Few visitors to Himeji look beyond the castle, yet the city's southern coast hides something quietly spectacular. The observation deck in Shosekiheki Park perches above a sweeping wall of rhyolite sea cliffs (roughly 50 metres high and 800 metres long) whose dramatic red-tinged faces earned a poetic name in 1825, when a visiting scholar found in them an echo of China's legendary Red Cliffs. On clear days the view stretches far across the Seto Inland Sea, taking in the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Awaji Island, the Ieshima islands, and on the finest days, the distant outline of Shikoku.

When to go

The deck is open around the clock, so dawn and dusk offer the most rewarding light for both the cliffs and the seascape beyond. Clear winter mornings tend to deliver the sharpest long-distance views across the water.

“This is a park on a hill with a great view! There were some spots towards the end of the road where it was difficult to pass other cars, but there aren't many cars so it's fine.”— まりっぺ, Google review