A Trip to Inuyama

Inuyama castle, nestled on a hilltop

On Tuesday, we were blessed with another national holiday and totally gorgeous weather, which is much better than we could ever hope for in England. Why does it always rain on Bank Holiday weekends??? Bah! English weather, eh? (she says fondly) I took a day trip with the Americans and Europeans to Inuyama, a quaint little town about an hour north of Nagoya which is home to the oldest original castle in Japan. An impressive fact considering that almost all noteworthy buildings have been destroyed by the World Wars or earthquakes and typhoons. Many have been considerably rebuilt; for example, our very own Nagoya Castle was heavily bombed during World War II and now boasts many original features, such as a glass lift on the outside of the building.

Inuyama-jo is beautiful, though it mostly a shell and doesnt house much on the inside. Japanese castles are relatively small, and not on the scale that we are familiar with. Its not as big as Nagoya-jo, and is barely twice the size of Chertsey Road flat and London chez moi. Though, because it tappers in, the room at the top is exactly that, just an average sized room with a creeky, sloping balconing encircling it. Kevin got a little dizzy being out there, but bless him, he took a walk all the way round.