Page "Himeji Castle" Paragraph 27

The legend of the is another folklore story associated with the castle.

According to the legend, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ran out of stones when building the original three-story castle keep, and an old woman heard about his trouble.

She gave him her hand millstone even though she needed it for her trade.

It was said that people who heard the story were inspired and also offered stones to Hideyoshi, speeding up construction of the castle.

To this day, the supposed stone can be seen covered with a wire net in the middle of one of the stone walls in the castle complex.