Little World of Man

Japanese Required: Moderate

Cost: 1,600 for adults and college students, 1000 for high school students, 600 for junior high, and 300 for children
Recommended for: groups, families, history buffs, people interested in eating food from different cultures

On one of my many attempts to visit Inuyama castle, I ended up at the little world museum of man. First off, let me say that I have no idea why, whenever I suggest visiting Inuyama castle, my friends always have some place in Inuyama that is "better."  According to H, it’s not worth visiting because  it's small, other castles are more interesting, and so on and so forth. Let’s see... I’ve been to Ukai fishing, water rafting, and the little world museum of man and outdoor museum of man throughout time.

The place is massive, so be ready to walk around a lot in order to see everything the place has to offer. Most of the outside exhibits are buildings showing how people lived in the past or small patches of flowers, which are lovely if you go when they are in bloom and do not allergies but not really impressive when compared to gardens you can see more conveniently elsewhere. The main reason I would suggest doing the walkabout outside is to experience food from many different cultures. Bring an appetite - there's at least five restaurants. The traditional exhibit halls were rather unimpressive to me with the exception of the hall of masks.

I really enjoyed variety in masks between cultures even though many of them revolved around the same ideas: demons, spirits, and gods. Looking at the make of the masks helped me feel like I was more truly connecting to the cultural and spiritual aspects of by-gone eras. Even with the same materials used (wood, most commonly), the textures and chosen colors and effects had such diversity that it was hard to believe that the masks and statuettes came from the same stuff. It gave me perspective that even with the same ideas, every person will have a different way to represent it.

All in all it wasn’t a bad of an experience and, if you know what to expect, can be quite enjoyable. I had the misfortune of going after eating a big meal. Don't make the same mistake I did! I think this is a good place for families, groups or exploring on your own if you have a day to kill and don’t want to spend all that much money.

Kiso River Boat Ride

 
Japanese required: Moderate
Cost: 3400 for adults, 1700 for children
Good for: Everyone

The Kiso river runs through Inuyama. Inuyama is a quaint rural village with many different things to do and see. You can easily visit this town many times and find something new every time. The kiso river boat is a great way to spend the day. The meitetsu train ride there from Kanayama is 39 minutes and costs 650 yen. The bus that takes you to the loading dock for the river boat ride is a 5 minute walk from the Meitetsu InuyamaYuen station east exit and has a nice waiting area.

The view from the indoor waiting area makes it ideal for a picnic. There are plenty of tables, and they sell beverages and snacks. I packed a picnic lunch and was able to enjoy the full meal while waiting for the bus. The bus to the dock leaves roughly every 30 minutes and my group decided to let one bus go before leaving. This allowed us to have the place to ourselves, and it would be romantic if you were on a date. If you speak Japanese, you can have a friendly conversation with the couple that runs the bus stop and learn about the woman's homemade ginger "dog candy." The actual boat ride is about an hour.

It is a very calm and relaxing ride with a few small "rapid" areas. The drivers know a lot, but they can only speak Japanese. Even if you don't understand what they are saying, the many sights are impressive and enjoyable. I would suggest visiting the website for anyone that doesn't speak Japanese but still wants to know the history and some of the information shared by the drivers.

Overall, it is an enjoyable ride and I would recommend it for anyone.

Inuyama Ukai: Night Fishing

Japanese Required: Moderate

Inuyama is quaint castle village and a prime example of old school Japan. While I haven’t yet made it to the castle, I have visited Inuyama several times and always with a group of different friends with different interests. I ride the meitetsu to Inuyama from Kanayama which costs 1180 yen round trip. A word of warning: the meitetsu can be very confusing, even if you understand Japanese. Always make sure to remember the time and platform number of your train. I have forgotten to do this and ended up getting on a train headed the opposite direction from my destination. This trip, I met up with a large group of friends and we wandered the streets of Inuyama before heading over to the docks.

The closer you are to the castle entrance, the more novelty shops you’ll find. The streets of Inuyama are wide and all look pretty much the same, so I suggest going with at least one person that can read Kanji or has been there before. It's a good thing I like to roam around because it is fairly easy to get lost. Getting lost in Inuyama is half the fun: it is so small that it is next to impossible to stay lost for long. If all else fails, you can always find your way back to the castle information center and ask for a map. They don’t speak any English but are quite used to lost foreigners.

Using the map and my powers of navigation, I was able to find my way to the dock in plenty of time to catch our boat. Ukai is cormorant fishing, a traditional Japanese fishing method. The ukai viewing requires reservation, and each boat seats about 16 people. The boats are spacious and allowed us to talk amongst ourselves quite comfortably as we headed out to the fishing spot. We spent around five to ten minutes just riding in the boat and looking at Inuyama's night-time lighting before we actually arrived.

 When we arrived at the fishing spot, I was very excited at the thought of seeing the birds dramatically swooping and diving to catch large amounts of fish. I was surprised that it was actually very calm and not visually dynamic. The torches lit up the area over the water, but I could not see the birds once they dove. The closer you are to the boat, the easier it is to see the birds deliver the fish they have caught.


 

It was a very relaxing and an enjoyable trip. While I’m not sure if I would go again, I definitely recommend the experience to anyone interested in learning about Japanese culture. Ukai fishing in Inuyama is a nice, comfortable cultural outing that makes you feel connected to old Japan.