My fascination with castles started with my first drawing inspired by Château de Chillon in Switzerland. I clearly remember sitting in the back of a car as my cousin drove by the beautiful, watery scenic road in Montreaux. I was so exhausted while my two cousins parked and tried to drag me to the castle since there was a tour. We had literally just arrived in Europe after a long 10 hour flight and driving a few hours to the vacation home where we were staying. It was about 5pm and the tours were closing and I still remember the massiveness and delight of Chillon - especially after seeing the smiling faces of my cousins as they returned from an amazing experience of trap doors, armory and history. 'You missed out!' they said...

I knew I would be back for some reason...the memory of visiting the castle, even if it was a glimpse from the outside would imprint in my memory.

Fast forward to today, this week, I decided to start my tribute to castles and love for traveling - in Asia.

First Stop: Japan

My inspiration was the Matsumoto Castle in Nagano, Hanshu built in 1597 It's structure is precise and the massive stone bases were constructed to withstand serious stress. Matsumoto is one of Japan's most beautiful and strongest fortresses. In 1945 an atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and destroyed the city's castle keep in a second, but the stone base was left virtually untouched. It's surrounded by some of Japan's highest mountains and by a wet moat.