This morning S, R, and I picked M up at Nagoya station. We were off to Inuyama, about an hour to the north. We ended up parking in a museum parking lot as we didn’t see the signs for the official parking lot for the castle. Inuyama Castle is one of 12 remaining original castles in Japan that survived the ages. It’s the oldest standing castle in Japan and was built in 1440. We arrived right before sakura season so there weren’t too many tourists or lines. There was a beautiful fox shrine at the base of the castle grounds. The Inuyama mascot was taking pictures with people. We walked up old stone paths, passing a horse shrine, to the entrance of the castle gates. Inside, was an omiyage shop/cafe, the castle, and a small courtyard. Near the castle was a huge, old, trimmed tree that was an ancient sakura apparently!

We got in line to enter the castle, and removed our shoes as per usual. The castle definitely felt old! The stone walls were much less even and the wood smoothed and stained. At the top was an outlook where you could see much of the surrounding area. A good vantage point to spot any incoming enemies! I ended up buying Ichigo-sensei some Inuyama omiyage as a thank you for the ETC card and a goodbye present. We won’t be teaching together anymore :( Every school year in Japan, teachers can be reassigned to new schools or duties and have to move to ensure no school gets a stockpile of good teachers. She’s leaving to be a supervisor and will no longer be teaching. I’m quite sad.

After dropping by the car to shed layers - it was getting quite warm - and omiyage, we continued walking through the old castle town. Lots of cute shops and cafes. We ended up getting lunch at a misokatsu place. We ate outside in the sun. Afterward, we drove to the Sweets Castle about 20 minutes away. It’s like a themed “house.” It looks like a European palace, but with a Santa statue in the fountain! You had to pay for entrance and then could pay extra for different activities. The most popular one was where you could rent a dress, stroll around the grounds, and take pictures. A lot of couples were doing this. You could also bake cookies in a class - that was popular with the kids. This place was huge! We wandered through the halls back to a museum of confectionaries. They had famous places built out of sugar. We paid extra for the sweets buffet, but it wasn’t that impressive. Most make your own parfaits. It was really interesting to see this place, but definitely much too expensive.

We dropped M at a station and started the drive home. R took a turn driving the car and drove it halfway. My body was so tired of driving especially from all the driving to Ise. The drive was really pretty! We could see all the mountains this time. We passed through some pretty remote areas and got to see the snowy peaks of the alps in Nagano.