On Sunday I took a trip to Inuyama. It was a fantastic day, and made even more so by the beautiful weather and randomly finding out that there was a free bus service to take us around. I went to Inuyama back in the Spring when I arrived in Japan, but it seemed like a completely different place this time and I saw some things I didn’t see last time.
I started with the castle, of course…
There was a great view of the Kiso river and Inuyama from the top of the castle:
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All along the way I saw beautiful Autumn colours which were just beginning to fade, but still utterly beautiful…
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But the highlight of the day had to be the wonderfully strange discovery of the ‘momotaro’ shrine. Momotaro is a popular character from Japanese folklore, often known as ‘Peach Boy’. This shrine was dedicated to him and the other characters from his story, and it was the most bizarre place I’ve seen in Japan yet! I think only pictures can do it justice, so here goes…
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This monkey eats bad fortunes…
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This statue was amazing – it was actually crying water!
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I can’t even begin to describe how surreal that place was – hopefully the pictures give you some idea!
Inuyama is a really interesting place and I highly recommend it to anyone who is in the Aichi area. We were lucky to have the free bus service though, which was only put on for the Autumn period, to shuttle people around to see the leaves. It was actually the last day of the service. If that hadn’t have been there I’m not sure how I would have gotten to all the places without a car – it would have been a long hike! As it is, my legs are killing me today from climbing lots of steps at a shrine! It was worth it though – it seems Autumn is hanging on and hanging on, and I just can’t get over this beautiful weather – it’s meant to be December!! 😀
Haikugirl's Japan 
looks like a great trip out ?
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Yeah, it really was!
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