At the Bottom of Horaiji in Shinshiro, Japan

 

 

 

This was only the beginning of our walk  up the mountain. The mountain has steps to help you along. Some of them are slippery so be careful! We took over a 1,000 steps just to get to Horaiji.

Nagashino Castle in Shinshiro, Japan

The ruins of a long ago bridge. I was surprised to see the remnants of a stone bridge out in the very countryside area of Shinshiro. What was the purpose for this bridge? Was it no longer necessary to have because of this road? Why was only the legs of the bridge left? I guess I will never know.

We stopped at a Japanese restaurant for lunch after we passed a multitude of cafe's and then no restaurants at all until this one....We were worried we were going to have to go hungry and climb the 1,000+ steps to Horai Shrine.

The whole salmon jerky over the counter was unique, but somehow it went with the decor or the restaurant which was really pleasant.

 We stopped where the Nagashino castle used to stand. It was where the Battle of Nagashino (1575) with Nobunaga turned in his favor....mainly because he survived it. He was able to begin the process of uniting Japan. Of course, in order to get the complete history I recommend you consult the history books. I can only show you where the crucial part of the war was fought.

 To tell you the truth I would never have guessed that it was the location of a castle. There really is no part of the castle left, because it burned down in that war and no one rebuilt it.

These are the steps leading to where the castle was supposedly located. It looks over the moat that surrounded the castle. 

 This is where the castle supposedly sat before it burned down.

 I have to say it was a pleasant location. I'm not surprised that the Nagashino Castle was built here. It was quiet and people could definitely relax in this area. Although, it is still pretty hot and humid, I don't know how they fought that without air conditioning.

The Streets of Kakuozan: Nagoya, Japan

This was the second time that I have found a nest of baby sparrows in a nest on my walks. The first time was in Owari Seto and they were so tiny that I could only barely see their beaks and tops of their heads. This time they were bigger, but still waiting for their parents to return. I think was making them nervous, because the parents were flying by and then sitting on the wire outside. So, I only stayed long enough to take this photo and see the parents flying around.

I liked the feel of this street. With the white walls and rocks on the bottom portion....

I loved the rooster on the roof to indicate the direction of the wind. It was the first time I've ever seen this. Even in Seattle I hadn't seen one of these before, figures it takes for me to move to Japan to see one of these.

Nagoya, Japan: A Tea House in Kakuozan

This was at cafe L'u-vo in Kakuozan. It is on a side street from the main road leading to the temple. It's not far from the main road, but you may need to search a bit to find it. It was about 2 or 3 blocks before the temple. If you are facing the temple it is on your right side.

Nagoya, Japan: A Temple In Kakuozan

This was the first time I ever saw heart cut outs at a temple.

 This was the second time I came to this temple and the first time I didn't notice the faces on the roof. But then again it was down pouring rain like a giant bucket was overturned on us, so I couldn't look up unless I was interested in drowning, which I was not.

 This temple had either a collaboration with or was built by a Thai king. I'm thinking that is why there are elephants here. You can find elephants along the street walking to this temple as I showed in the previous post.

Nagoya, Japan: Kakuozan Walk

This is a well-known Indian Curry Restaurant. They sell many different kinds of teas in their store next door. You can also purchase some of their curry kits to make them at home! I highly recommend eating lunch here, I had their spinach curry set which came with naan and some kind of chutney and onions. Very delicious! This restaurant is called Eikokuya.

Their tea shop next door.

This is the first block of Kakuozan with the older buildings. This is the street where Starbucks is on the corner and you can find Chez Shibata on this street as well, but more about that later.

The shop owner made their own little elephant statue out of paper. How cute is this!

There is a small specialty cheese shop on this street as well. It is on the opposite side of the street from Chez Shibata and Eikokuya Curry house. I didn't have an opportunity to eat here since they weren't open yet when I was here in the morning, but they do offer a little food using their cheeses! Cheese sample platter anyone?

Here is the entrance of the cake shop Chez Shibata. It is a famous cake shop in Nagoya and they have the most beautiful and delicious cakes here! They also make cookies for those of you who want to take a little something home and a cake just want survive a plane or shinkansen ride.

 I would have taken a photo of the fig cake that I ate, but....it disappeared too quickly to have its photo taken. Sorry, maybe next time!

Nagoya, Japan: Higashi Ote Station to Morishita Station

Along this walking course there were a number of very old buildings. This is right in front of the former Nagoya Courthouse.

After a 5 minute walk and crossing a main road I found this residence which is famous for just how OLD it is. They still have the wall surrounding their home which was the style back when this home was built.

Along this walk there are a few museums (I think private museums since they are small). They on average have a 200yen fee to enter the building. Of course, standing outside is free and you are allowed to take photos this way.

A different museum that is famous for it's stained glass windows and very unique building structure.

This was an apartment complex that i just happened to come across. The balconies reminded me of my trip to Barcelona where I visited Antoni Gaudi's architectural masterpieces.

This mark was on the gates of a temple that I'm thinking is meant to be protectors of children.....since I saw an Ojizou-san Statue with 2 kids and the kids were wearing baby clothes that people had placed on them.

The season of the Lotus Flower.