Talley Your Adventure – The Blog

Those of you who know me best know that it has been a lifelong dream of mine to visit Japan. I have not had the opportunity, through a variety of reasons, until the last year when Clinton and I were able to save up to plan the trip well in advance of attending.

The main reason for me to visit Japan was to be absorbed and immersed in the culture and climate of Japan. I was and am still not as concerned or interested in visiting a large town such as Tokyo or a specific shrine or area. Many of you will have these interests – and Tally Your Adventure can help you find those amazing places! For me, personally, I wanted the opportunity to be in a small town during a normally extremely busy time of the year for the country. There were not the larger crowds that would be in Kyoto or Hokkaido even though the cherry blossoms were in full bloom! If you are interested in a more intimate and slower experience when visiting Japan, let us know that as well – we got you covered!

When we started to plan for our trip, we knew we wanted to try to time our visit with the cherry blossoms. This can be rather difficult as you are usually planning many months (for us, we planning 6 months in advance!) before really knowing when the blossoms will bloom. You honestly end up guessing and hoping that you timed it right! Because of this uncertainty, I focused on finding another reason to visit Japan in case we ended up missing the blossoms. This is where I discovered the Inuyama Matsuri, a 300+ year old celebration where the locals offer the Karakuri to the Haritsuna Shrine. At the very least, I knew we would see something spectacular in the form of a cultural event. And boy, did it deliver! During the two day celebration, the local families pull out one of the thirteen giant floats – which are pushed and pulled BY HAND!

We were able to enjoy this celebration by staying at the amazing IHG InterContinental Hotel right in town, which hosted the town’s hot spring. I was a bit worried with my tattoos that I would not be able to attend, but there was no issues and beyond maybe a few looks from the older folks I was totally fine! Be warned – no clothes! It is a fantastic experience that Clinton and I were able to use every day. They have a beautiful spa experience with not just the hot spring, but a dry sauna, a cold dip pool, and a bunch of showers with sweet smelling products to use. The women and men are separated for a truly personal experience.

We were close enough to walk ‘up the hill’ from the hotel to see the neighborhood where the floats emerged, but where and what were they exactly doing, you ask? They were bringing the floats to the Shrine as an offering for the year. During the day, the floats rested in front of the Shrine while the Kakakuri (dolls) performed on one of the tiers of the float. At night, the floats were lit up with 365 beautiful lanterns for display before the floats were moved back to their garages for the night. The next day, it repeated! For us, the next day was rainy – so, unfortunately, we were not able to see all thirteen floats again. Only eight participated, but we were happy to have even eight! We spent the next morning visiting the local museums in town that showed the history of the Kakakuri dolls, how they were constructed, and how they worked. It is truly a fascinating piece of artistic engineering that must be seen when visiting this town!

So, back to my question…where were the floats going? To the Inuyama Castle! We made sure to visit the castle the day before the celebration, which was good we did as the lines the next couple days were pretty long. The castle was built back in 1537, making it one of the oldest buildings that we have visited in many years! We had to take off our shoes and carry them in a bag, which I thought was a really nice touch and way to try to preserve such a fragile building. The views were amazing. Built by the uncle of Oda Nobunaga, the castle changed hands many times before settling as a Japanese National Treasure. Much like how we preserve land and areas as National Monuments and Parks, this beautiful structure will be preserved for many generations to come! The landscape around it was meticulously kept as authentic as possible. You can see the care and love that is given to this ancient landmark!

We can’t visit another country without taking time to find a National Park! Or, in this case, battlefield! Sekigahara Battlefield is a sister site for Gettysburg National Battlefield in Pennsylvania. It was recommended by a friend of mine who use to work for Gettysburg. Small world – Inuyama was only an hour by train from Sekigahara! We decided to take a day trip and figure out the train. After a small snafu attempting to return without a station to talk to someone, we figured it out and had a great time all around. Taking the train was easiest and included a small walk to the battlefield, where you read signs that explain the battle. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord during this battle, has an impressive history. The Visitor Center does an even more impressive job of explaining Tokugawa as well as the battle and the overall war. This battle, much like Gettysburg, ended up turning the tide of war and eventually led to a wave of prosperity and unity for Japan. We had a great time and highly recommend adding this to your trip if you end up in the area!

Food was easy to find even with a language barrier. Inuyama seems to thrive on ‘food on a stick’! Yum! We had rice balls with soy sauce, beef, and other items that filled us up with small portions and yummy flavors. Make sure to bring cash! Credit cards are not frequently available to use for purchases. Also, they definitely want you to pause and enjoy your food. Don’t walk and eat! Stop, talk to your friend, or people watch. Trash cans are not readily available so you’ll want to give the stick back to the people who you bought the food from – they usually have a small trash can on the counter for this purpose. Have fun and experiment!