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Nagoya City is the capital of Aichi prefecture. I have traveled to Nagoya a number of times, and there is a lot to see. Both the Museum Meiji Mura and ukai viewing below are in the near by town of Inuyama.
Museum Meiji Mura is an open-air museum containing buildings and furniture from the Meiji era. The buildings were dismantled from different prefectures around Japan, and some from as far as Hawaii, and brought to the museum. I spent about 4 hours here and only saw about 1/3 of the exhibits.
School classroom (Mie prefecture, 1888).
St. John's Church (Kyoto, 1907).
St. John's church first floor kindergarten (left), and second floor church
(right).
East Yamanashi (my home prefecture) District Office (Yamanashi, 1885).
St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral (Kyoto, 1890).
St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral
Close-up of St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral alter, with a perfect reflection of the stained glass windows on the wood flooring.
Reception Hall of Marquis Tsugumichi Saigo House.
The ukai method of fishing, called just ukai, is over 300 years old.
Hot Spring at a Traditional Japanese Inn
The ofuro (bath) at the ryokan where I spend the night. I booked a package at a travel agency at Nagoya station. The package included a night at the ryokan which included breakfast and a boxed dinner for the boat, and the ukai viewing. I added a couple of beers to the deal at the ryokan front desk.
Outdoor Hot Spring
The rotenburo (outside bath). The ofuro and rotenburo completed in Heisei 7 (1995) looks as if it were completed yesterday. I relaxed in the onsen before and after the ukai viewing.
Ukai tour group dinning on thier pleasure craft
This is the small boat from which I watched ukai. I headed down to the boat where my boxed dinner and beer was already waiting. We ate dinner on the boat waiting for the darkness and then watched the fishermen fish. The actual fishing lasted about 20 min.
Ukai viewing
The fire at the bow of the boat is to attract the ayu (type of fish). The trained u (cormorant) are then release into the water on leases. About 10 birds were used. The birds dive down and catch the fish in their beaks. Since they are fitted with rings around their necks they are unable to swallow the fish. The fisherman reels in the bird, retrieves the fish from its throat, then sends it back out.
A live performance in front of Nagoya Station.
Nagoya Castle
Nagoya Castle, famous for the 18k gold plated figures of a male and a female dolphin on the roof. The dolphins on the roof are replicas. The real dolphins are inside the castle on display (no photos allowed).
The view of Nagoya from the Library Cafe in the Marriott Hotel 12th floor.