Nagoya Castle

While in Nagoya we also got a chance to see the castle. Nagoya-Jo ("Nagoya Castle") is much like that of Osaka - razed in wartime and rebuilt as a museum. The exhibits of Nagoya history and samurai armor and weaponry were interesting, but the feature draw of Nagoya-Jo are the "Shachihoko,"usually translated as "golden dolphins" though they look nothing like dolphins seeing as how dolphins have no scales. My electronic dictionary has a more accurate translation: A fabled fish with a lion-like head, dragon-like sharp scales along the back and an arched tail that points skyward. They sit in pairs on castle rooftops throughout the Land of the Rising Sun. I have yet to figure out why Nagoya`s are considered so special. The castle also has lots of good photo ops and a beautiful view of Nagoya city.

`Red Hair Anne` strikes again

So on Saturday we woke up nice and early and took the Kintetsu train (about two hours) and arrived in Nagoya where we met Noriko, Ulala`s cousin who recently married and moved there. While waiting we saw a giant billboard in the lobby of the shopping center where we were meeting Noriko. It was an add for an "Anne of Green Gables Fair"!! WTF?! They LOVE "Red Hair Anne" here in Japan. To the point of absurdity. You may recall the previous post on this blog about the Love Hotel that bears her name (what you bare inside is up to you, buddy). Up on the top floor of the department store we found a massive gift shop of Anne goods and Canadian Food Fair!! Sweet! I bought a piece of carrot cake (which was delicious and covered with cream cheese icing- just like home!) and we got some maple sweets. There was a big exhibit all about Anne`s life, L.M. Montgomery`s life and the life of the woman who originally translated Anne in to Japanese (who became something of a national hero). There were pictures of East Coast Canada and models of Green Gables. Air Canada even had a table! At the end you could put on the ubiquitous red hair pigtails wig and hat and have your photo taken (see below). Good times.

Back Again

Not that i really went anywhere... It`s just been a while since i posted. I`d like to claim that i was really busy or that i was called away on important (and top secret) business but that`s lies. I was just lazy. The heat has a lot to do with that but actually i`ve been faring better this year in the Japanese summer than in previous years. It seems that this year Ulala is the one suffering through heat exhaustion and general malaise. No, it`s not that bad. My mother tells me that my last post worried her. Of course, worrying is one of the primary functions of motherhood, but upon re-reading the post (something i try very hard to rarely do) it did seem a bit glum. In fact i am in a really good state. I don`t have enough fingers and toes to count all my blessings but the big ones are: a loving family, a loving fiancee, great friends, a good job that i enjoy with a decent paycheck, relatively good health, a nice apartment, and an intelligent mind with which to enjoy it all. Now that i`ve said that i`ll likely get hit by a bus or some such thing but *shrug*, that`s tomorrow and today is great.

Moving on, Ulala went to Nagoya this past weekend, which was a long weekend here in Japan. Monday was "Umi No Hi," which is variously translated as "Ocean Day" or "Marine Day" and has little to no significant cultural importance other than providing a much needed long weekend in July. Ulala had a wedding to attend (to which i was not invited! - another strange cultural difference: here in Japan you don`t bring dates to weddings unless they are specifically invited. weird.)

We took the train up on Saturday morning and then came back late on Monday night. Overall we had a good weekend in Japan`s third largest city. Saw some sights, ate some eel. I`ll let the pictures do the talking.

this thing is in the center of town and looks like it`s just waiting for an action movie bad guy to fall on it, impaled on his comeupins.

this dude is the public transport mascot. he`s a "Shachihoko" or something like that - the golden fish on the tops of the Japanese castles.

Nagoya Tower

bridge in central park



since when did warning signs start using Ebonics?

in case of... be prepared



one of the best things about Nagoya is the all day breakfast you can get at lots of little cafes. sweet.

the eel. Noriko, Ulala`s cousin, was a wonderful host and took us to this super famous eel restaurant where we had to wait for over an hour in line but it was worth it. I`m not normally a big fan of eel but summer is the season and this was apparently "the place" and i have to admit that it was fantastic! The servings are nice and large as well.

the view from our hotel room. it was a cheap but new (and ridiculously clean) business hotel.
I would recommend it to anyone on a budget.