Forget Disneyland… This place has Ninja’s!
If Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are not quite your thing, why not take a tour in a Ninja Village? Togakushi Ninja Village in Nagano prefecture is a destination for children who want to experience a Ninja theme park with shows and historical demonstrations.
Something a bit more adult perhaps? The Koga Ninja Village and Museum in Shiga Prefecture is a bit more adult oriendted and features demonstrations, and environments for you to try out your ninja skills in a real village said to once be the main village for the Koga Ninja Clan.
Of course the Koga Ninja were not the only famous ninja clan. The Iga Ninja were also well regarded in history as some of the most cruel. And so for something a bit different the Iga Ryu Ninja Museum features weapons and tools once used long time ago.
I can’t promise you that your Japanese girlfriend may enjoy doing this, but chances are she’ll look at it as a fun road trip and something that you will enjoy a great deal. If you go however, be warned that we at Japundit expect lots of pictures of the sites and a thank you for pointing you in the right direction! (just kidding… The pictures will be plenty!)
The Iga-Ryu Museum in Ueno-shi, Mie-ken is very good. Very educational and relatively cheap. There seems to be more interactivity at the other two theme parks (or so I gather), but the Iga-Ryu Museum is a museum after all. The collection of weapons is pretty good, and there is a live show for a few hundred Yen extra. The performers trained/took part in the movie Shinobi (aka Shinobi: Heart Under Darkness) to name but one. The support for English speakers is adequate.
The town was once just called Iga, but it merged with Ueno at some point. Iga is also home of Matsuo Basho, and there is a museum dedicated to him just at the bottom of the hill. There is also a castle just up the hill.
Apart from that, the town is small. Getting there is also not a simple matter. There are about 3 connections when travelling from Kyoto (the way I went). The final leg of the train journey is a kintetsu local train, with ninja decor.
Worth checking out if you live in Kansai or Chubu.
January 21st, 2007 at 4:03 pmYeah I went to the Ninja YAshiki house in Mie-ken as well. It blew my mind when they used that revolving wall and the little knife compartment in the floor. so awesome.
unfortunately I couldn’t see the blow-dart and ninja star demonstrations becasue the ninjas who normally do it were off that day! What the hell?! I thought ninjas were immortal and needed not to rest!
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:48 am[...] JAPAN - Forget Disneyland… This place has Ninja’s! “If Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are not quite your thing, why not take a tour in a Ninja Village? Togakushi Ninja Village in Nagano prefecture is a destination for children who want to experience a Ninja theme park with shows and historical demonstration [...]
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:34 pm