There’s three things to do here, and it was delightful doing them.
The castle itself was crowded but not too bad. I got there early. You basically had to climb a ladder to get from one floor to the next. Bonkers. I was mega impressed and a little shamed when I watched an old lady climb the stairs after arriving in a wheelchair lol.
The garden next door features a teahouse that’s a certified national treasure. Not too impressive to my eyes but then what do I know? Any original wood structure that old is to be preserved.
Jo-an – Wikipedia https://share.google/rQ5xIFXIFyRZrjomB
The tea ceremony i had was pretty casual but the lady knew enough English to explain a lot. I appreciated it.
On the way back to the station there’s a shopping street with lots of places to eat. The shops themselves are pretty old and survived the firebombings in ww2. Inuyama got off easy, unlike nagoya.
I was able to try something new here. The miso in nagoya is kinda special. Its made into soup, dressings, meat sauce, and its used to stew stuff in as well. In this case, some stuff with a firm texture. Not super yummy, but the stuff had protein in it, which I needed, lol.
It was still kinda early, so I went to the other super important Shinto shrine. This one isn’t as popular with the tourists, so it was super peaceful. Atsuta Jingu. I was full of fishcake so I didn’t eat what you’re supposed to eat there, which is these special kind of noodles.
That was pretty much the day. The weather was glorious.
