inuyama
9-23
this is inuyama. i went here on my day off last week, monday was a national holiday "respect for the elderly day". it was nice to get away and relax by myself. inu yama is famous for their castle, which is the oldest castle in japan. for the most part it has been maintained in it's current form since it was built in the 1500s. i also went to "uraku-en tea arbor jo-an" one of the oldest and most important tea house in japan. while there a aquired a tour guide.. an obasan (middle aged woman) and her two friends become my volunteer tour guides, at their insistance. the one lady who volunteered to be my guide also insisted to go with me to the castle as well. so the two of us went to the castle, her friends bailed... i was a little afraid she was gonna stick with me the whole day or something, but she didn't she left right after her explanation of the castle's history.
[ near the station i arrived at. ]
[ this temple is part of the group of temples and shrines on the hill over looking the city. ]
[ looking inside the main building at the temple site. ]
[ a sign on the road near the above temple ]
[ higher up the same hill there was a shrine, not a temple... an easy way to tell the difference is shinto shrines are usually orange or red and buddhist temples are usually wood color, but not always... ]
[ almost all of the shrines and temples were filled with tombo, dragonflies. and japanese dragon flies really suit the name "dragon" fly. ]
[ this is the tea house and garden, "uraku-en tea arbor jo-an" ]
[ the lady in white is the lady i met at the tea house, she insisted on being my interpreter. ]
[ here's my interpreter again. ]
