Inuyama

 We decided to take a short trip and make the most of the rest of June since it feels like time is going by really quickly. So James and I went to the picturesque town north of Nagoya: Inuyama, or "Dog mountain".

Inuyama is famous for three things: Its castle, a monkey zoo and conservation center, and its spectacular cormorant fishing. The first two are self explanatory, but cormorant fishing is a little more interesting. In certain towns in Japan, an interesting attraction is kept alive for tourists. Special fishermen keep cormorant, a type of fish eating bird, similar to a pelican. They take the birds out in a boat, and then tie their necks up, so that they cannot swallow the fish that they catch in their mouths. Under the light of great charcoal braziers hanging from the prows of their boats, the fishermen handle the birds and use them to catch fish.

We didn't get to see any actual fishing, but I imagine the show is quite spectacular. Inuyama has a new attraction this year; It has welcomed this June a new fisher, and she's a pretty, young japanese woman!

 

We chose this day to go to Inuyama because the weather was gorgeous, and the town is a very pretty place to walk around in the sun. 

The shrine at Inuyama is quite picturesque, like many mountain top shrines.

It was a hot day.

James takes advantage of the shade to get out of the sun. Our poor Haku-jin skin is very sensitive.

 Inuyama Castle sits atop a small hill bordering the river, and the top floor has a panoramic view of the whole region. Despite the low, wooden railings, it was quite a nice place to hang out.

 After climbing down from Inuyama, we decided to visit a local museum, Called Meiji-Mura.

The Museum is actually a village of reconstructed Meiji-Era buildings, and contains over a hundred unique buildings. Most of them are in European style, as during this time period Japan underwent rapid westerization.

This was pretty much the inside of most of the buildings.

 One of the Museums most famous attractions, and partly the reason I came, is a reconstruction of the Lobby of the Imperial Hotel, designed by Frank Loyd Wright. He is one of the most iconic North American Modern architects, and I had to see this reconstruction of his famous building.

Inuyama Castle from the river.

 We left Inuyama after the sun set, after watching the beautiful day end over the river running through the town. Theres nothing like sunny day out of the city to cheer up the rainy-season blues. Watching the sunset over Inuyama on a sunday evening really brings home the finality of the weekend. Time is starting to go really fast here though, and the next weekend comes along very quickly. Soon summer will come, and we'll be missing the cool-ish overcast days of june.