Mika visits Nagoya

This weekend I had one last visitor to Nagoya.  It was my friend from my CMU, Mika.  You may recall that she is usually my tour guide in the Tokyo area, so I'm glad I could repay the favor and give Mika her first experience of Nagoya!

First stop was a Nagoya-speciality restaurant, Yabaton.  I see this 6-foot pig all over the city, but this is the original restaurant, so he takes up the whole building this time!

Yabaton, not surprisingly, is known for pork cutlets.  

It's one of my favorite meals: fried miso katsu, slathered in miso sauce served on a bed of cabbage.

Next stop was the Nagoya Castle!

They had some interesting flower displays at the Castle...

Even a mini-castle with a traditional golden dolphin on one side of the roof and a fried tempura shrimp perched on the other corner!

At night we went to a traditional bon dance.

The dancers move in very slow, methodical movements and wear special hats that cover their faces.

I'm told that the shape of the hat is beautiful, which is why they wear them!

Quite an experience!

Music was live--sung and played by a kimono-clad crew on stage.

 

Check out this video of the singing and dancing. 

(You must go directly to the blog to access it.)



The next day we went to pray at the Atsuta Jingu Shrine, and they were having an event for children ages 3, 5, and 7.

The odd ages are consider special years, so the children were all dressed in their best kimono and many pictures were being taken!! 

(I figured no one would notice a few extra from me!)

These 3 are being blessed by the woman in the back shaking what looks like a clump of Christmas bells. 

I'm guessing the boy on the right is 3, which is why he's wearing kimono, and his brother in the middle is 6.  Since 6 isn't a "special" year, he only gets to wear his suit (with shorts!).  The woman on the left is their mother.

We had another Nagoya speciality for lunch: hitsumabushi, which is eel served over rice.

Then we went to Nagoya Port, which happened to be having a Okinawa festival complete with a traditional drum and dance performance!!

Check out this video of the Okinawa performancers.

(You must go directly to the blog to access it.)

Mako, Mika, & Kerri at Nagoya Port.

It was a great weekend--full of nice weather, Nagoya fun, and even some new sights! 

I'm am glad I was able to fit in a few more Japanese cultural events since there is only 2 more weeks left before my departure!

Nagoya Castle Obon Festival

Since it was Obon Week, there were many special "night" events happening around Nagoya.  The night events help patrons beat the heat and the cruel sun, but they also provide a rare opportunity to see some Nagoya sights which are usually locked up tight by 5pm every day. 

I decided to check out the Obon Festival at the Nagoya Castle, mainly because I've seen a few posters around town of Nagoya Castle at night, and it looks amazing!  I was excited for a glimpse of my own!

Walking to the Castle.  The streets are lined with lanterns guiding spirits back home!

Many booths of crafts, food, and games were set up.

View of a castle turret beyond the lanterns

Inside the 400 year old turret!  They had the crazy decorative paper lanterns for lighting.  I have no idea how the Japanese warriors moved around in these dark quarters!

This place would be great for a haunted house...

Walkway to the castle.  Seriously, these pics remind me of Halloween, but actually the lanterns are all red.

And the beautiful castle at night.  I think it looks majestic every time I see it!

I can't believe it never occurred to me to wear my yukata (summer kimono) to this event!  It even has "festival" in the title.  I feel like I should be getting as much use out of that thing in Japan as possible.  But I seriously forget that I have a special outfit to wear to events like this!

We ran out of time to eat at the food booths (oh darn, I missed out on fish-on-a-stick and octopus balls...), so instead we decided to have dinner at the foreigner bar, Shooters.

I love this place, and apparently the bartender loves me because he sent over 2 free shots (Alabama Slammers) since he hadn't seen me in a while... LOL. 

(I haven't been there since April, and yes, folks, I am that memorable!)

Nagoya Castle

Another full day with the parents!  We started off at the Nagoya JR Towers, which is the worlds largest train station by square footage and is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year.

Kerri and Mom enjoy the pretty flowers in honor of the station's anniversary.

Mom and Dad are on the train to see some traditional Japanese cultural stuff today!

I ride trains all of the time, but I wanted to get in on the picture action!!

Mom and Kerri at the approach to the Atsuta Shrine.

Mom watches as Dad cleans himself as a Shinto ritual and prepares to approach the shrine.

Dad and Mom threw their yen and pray to the Shinto spirits. 

Mom is probably praying for better food for the rest of the week, and Dad is probably praying to not bump his head on the low doorways!

Some times if they are really nice to me, I let them take breaks in the subway station.  I try not to push them to the brink!

Let's go check out the Nagoya Castle! 

Nagoya's unofficial symbol is the golden dolphins perched on top of the roof of the castle!

P.S. Can you guess who is playing peek-a-boo in the pic below?

Not to the castle yet.  This is one of the original turrets guarding the castle. 

The castle and most of the grounds were destroyed during WWII, but we got to go in this turret built in 1612!

Dad and Mom on the castle grounds.  Cherry blossoms make a beautiful backdrop!

The rebuilt Nagoya Castle! 

The building is 9 amazing stories of glory and history!  See the golden dolphins?!

This is the actual size of the golden dolphins on the roof!  They are HUGE!! 

The records indicate that the dolphins were removed and melted down three times in the past 400 years due to wars and economic crisis when there was a need for precious metals!  But many years later once the city could afford to rebuild, they would put them back up!

There were deer in the moat around the castle! 

We were so excited about it you would have never guessed that we see deer quite often in America or that we were just at the zoo yesterday to see way more exotic animals!

Even without water this moat is crazy deep, and I'm pretty sure no one is getting in to attack the castle!

View of the cherry blossoms and Nagoya.

Dad and Kerri

Leaving the castle grounds.  Another turret is on the corner of the grounds.

View of the castle from outside the gates!

Dad and Kerri enjoy a beer at the foreigner bar. 

(Mom just enjoyed her Western-style food for dinner!  Maybe all of that praying to the Shinto spirits actually worked...)