Today was a national holiday in Japan to mark Shunbun no Hi - the Vernal Equinox - and, as a result, I had the day off work. I took advantage of my free day to go to Inuyama and visit the castle.
Inuyama is one of the oldest castles in Japan and one of 12 still in existence that were built before the Edo period.
The steps inside the castle are very steep. On entering the castle, it is necessary to remove shoes, which makes the ascent treacherous since socks don't grip very well on polished wooden floors. It's even more unnerving on a day like today when very strong, very cold winds are rushing through the open windows. The views from the top are worth the climb, though.
Having descended from the castle and having fortified myself with some fried chicken, I trekked eastwards to the Inuyama Monkey Park.
The Monkey Park is a combined amusement park - with ferris wheel, roller coaster and various other rides - and primate zoo.
With some species, visitors to the park are allowed to enter the enclosure and see the animals up close.
With the squirrel monkeys, this wasn't much of a problem, since they are timid creatures and had a tendency to run for cover whenever a child toddled over yelling 'Kawaii!' at them (which happened quite often).
The ring-tailed lemurs, on the other hand, were far less shy.
Umbrellas are provided for visitors to shelter under, but it's more than a little disconcerting when a lemur launches itself through the air and lands with a thumb on the umbrella's canopy right above your head.
It's even more disconcerting when the lemurs realise they can clamber under the umbrella as well...
It was a really cool experience, though...
On the way back to the station, I stopped off at Inuyama Naritasan Temple. The temple is dedicated to Fudo-Myo-o ('Immovable Wisdom'). Among other activities, the temple performs a prayer for vehicles. Cars line up in the car park in front of the temple to receive the blessing of traffic safety from the temple's patron deity.
All in all, it's fair to say that Inuyama is a great place in which to spend one's day off.
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