Golden Week's over, and I spent most of the week being lazy.
Saturday was spent in my pajamas.
Sunday hubby and I met up with a friend who had come home from his job in Tochigi for karaoke and drinks.
Monday was karaoke-overload-recovery day.
Tuesday was a trip to Inuyama (more on that later down the page!).
Wednesday was laziness in pajamas again.
Overall, a nice, relaxing vacation. I only wish it had lasted longer.
I said that if we'd go anywhere (i.e. Inuyama) I'd post any pictures I'd take.
Well, Golden Week is over but that doesn't mean I can't spend my hour before my night class starts uploading pictures for your viewing pleasure!
Inuyama Castle is considered one of the oldest remaining castles in Japan. Wikipedia says there are 12 that remain from before the Edo period, but the four most famous are Himeji, Matsumoto, Hikone and Inuyama. Out of these four, I had only been to Matsumoto Castle several times. You can find pictures browsing around my deviantArt account.
Inyuyama Castle is only a half hour from the nearest Meitetsu train station near my apartment. I've been in Gifu for almost two and a half years and I had yet to go, so I made it clear to my husband that we were going come rain or shine.
Well, it rained. Right when we got out of the station in Inuyama City.
And I forgot an umbrella.
But, being the crazy American tourists we are, we braved the 20 minute walk up to the castle without an umbrella!
Got there and being Golden Week there were more tourists than usual out on a rainy day. The walk up to the castle from Inuyama Station is nice because there's a whole area of old-style shops and galleries. I wish I had stopped to take pictures, but I wanted to get to the castle before it started pouring. There are also several oddly tall buildings along the walk. These hold the mikoshi for the Inuyama Matsuri and Inuyama Castle Matsuri that are held every spring in the beginning of April. Inuyama's mikoshi are quite taller than the normal mikoshi found at festival, and I believe are on wheels. I haven't actually seen them, so I'm not sure.
By the time we got to the castle it was starting to rain pretty good, so everyone was trying to get into the castle at the same time. Being an original castle with original flooring, one has to take off their shoes and put them in a plastic bag before entering.
This makes it quite dangerous to walk around the castle. The reason being, the stairs are insanely steep. To put it simply, castle builders made the staircases steep with narrow steps to keep invaders from rapidly climbing up the floors in the case they were invaded. I still wonder how samurai got around the castle in full armor during battle. There is no safe way to run up and down those stairs.
I will stop talking now and just let you guys look at the few pictures I have. All of these can be seen in larger on my deviantArt site which is linked up top. You can also download the full resolution photo from dA, but they aren't big enough to be wallpapers. If you would like a wallpaper from any photos you see on deviantArt, let me know and I'll see if I still have the original on file somewhere.
I love the roof tiles of old castle!
The Kiso River flows behind the castle. They do ukai fishing on this river as well, I believe.
Nice little gazebo-thingie over on an old wall looking over the Kiso River.
Inuyama Castle!
The roads surrounding the castle often go under footbridges, which leaves open great photo opportunities like this!
Saturday was spent in my pajamas.
Sunday hubby and I met up with a friend who had come home from his job in Tochigi for karaoke and drinks.
Monday was karaoke-overload-recovery day.
Tuesday was a trip to Inuyama (more on that later down the page!).
Wednesday was laziness in pajamas again.
Overall, a nice, relaxing vacation. I only wish it had lasted longer.
I said that if we'd go anywhere (i.e. Inuyama) I'd post any pictures I'd take.
Well, Golden Week is over but that doesn't mean I can't spend my hour before my night class starts uploading pictures for your viewing pleasure!
Inuyama Castle is considered one of the oldest remaining castles in Japan. Wikipedia says there are 12 that remain from before the Edo period, but the four most famous are Himeji, Matsumoto, Hikone and Inuyama. Out of these four, I had only been to Matsumoto Castle several times. You can find pictures browsing around my deviantArt account.
Inyuyama Castle is only a half hour from the nearest Meitetsu train station near my apartment. I've been in Gifu for almost two and a half years and I had yet to go, so I made it clear to my husband that we were going come rain or shine.
Well, it rained. Right when we got out of the station in Inuyama City.
And I forgot an umbrella.
But, being the crazy American tourists we are, we braved the 20 minute walk up to the castle without an umbrella!
Got there and being Golden Week there were more tourists than usual out on a rainy day. The walk up to the castle from Inuyama Station is nice because there's a whole area of old-style shops and galleries. I wish I had stopped to take pictures, but I wanted to get to the castle before it started pouring. There are also several oddly tall buildings along the walk. These hold the mikoshi for the Inuyama Matsuri and Inuyama Castle Matsuri that are held every spring in the beginning of April. Inuyama's mikoshi are quite taller than the normal mikoshi found at festival, and I believe are on wheels. I haven't actually seen them, so I'm not sure.
By the time we got to the castle it was starting to rain pretty good, so everyone was trying to get into the castle at the same time. Being an original castle with original flooring, one has to take off their shoes and put them in a plastic bag before entering.
This makes it quite dangerous to walk around the castle. The reason being, the stairs are insanely steep. To put it simply, castle builders made the staircases steep with narrow steps to keep invaders from rapidly climbing up the floors in the case they were invaded. I still wonder how samurai got around the castle in full armor during battle. There is no safe way to run up and down those stairs.
I will stop talking now and just let you guys look at the few pictures I have. All of these can be seen in larger on my deviantArt site which is linked up top. You can also download the full resolution photo from dA, but they aren't big enough to be wallpapers. If you would like a wallpaper from any photos you see on deviantArt, let me know and I'll see if I still have the original on file somewhere.
A protective statue at the shrine in front of Inuyama Castle. Usually they use foxes, but this shrine uses Chinese-style lions.
A scale model of Inuyama Castle found on the second or third floor. I forget which.
I love the roof tiles of old castle!The Kiso River flows behind the castle. They do ukai fishing on this river as well, I believe.Nice little gazebo-thingie over on an old wall looking over the Kiso River.Inuyama Castle!The roads surrounding the castle often go under footbridges, which leaves open great photo opportunities like this!
5/08/2009 06:38:00 PM |
Category:
Inuyama Castle,
Japanese history,
photography,
sightseeing
|
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