Himeji Castle gets first official Lego set Zen block garden kit on the way tooPhotos

Japan’s most iconic castle is yours to build in Lego form, as is a Japanese garden to soothe your mind.

Himeji Castle, located in Hyogo Prefecture, is widely considered Japan’s most beautiful samurai stronghold. While many of Japan’s current castles are modern reconstructions, Himeji has been standing since 1333, and as a castle built in wartime but never attacked, there’s a unique mix of strength and beauty to the White Heron Castle, as it’s also known.

Himeji Castle is the subject of countless photographs, postcards, and travel guide covers, and now it’s captured Lego’s attention too, as the company has announced that a brand-new Himeji Castle Lego set is coming later this summer.

The 2,125-piece kit is part of the Lego Architecture series, which recreates significant real-world structures from around the globe. In the case of Himeji, you’ll build the castle’s distinctive main keep and the covered watariyagura corridor that connects it to the shorter adjacent tower. Other cool details include a partial interior and two sets of cherry blossom trees, one with the sakura in the full mid-spring pink, and the other with the green leaves that come out after the flowers fall, letting you set the seasonal mood however you like.

▼ The completed set is 32 centimeters (12.6 inches) wide and 19 centimeters tall.

If you want even more Lego plant life, there’s also a new Zen Garden set on the way.

Unlike the Himeji Castle kit, the 1,362-piece Zen Garden one isn’t modeled on any specific garden in Japan, but is instead a representation of the country’s classical landscaping aesthetics. In addition to the necessary components to build a tea pavilion and taikobashi (arched bridge), you also get Legos to fill the space with stone arrangements, koi, water lilies, bamboo, and sakura and pine trees.

With so many elements to work with, the Zen Garden set (which is 32 centimeters wide and 21 tall) gives you plenty of personalization options, and you can even swap pieces in and out wen you’re in the mood for a change, just like a gardener routinely pruning and planting new flora.

No official pricing is being set, but both kits go on sale August 1.

Source, images: PR Times
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