Inuyama - Urakuen & Meiji Mura
After visiting Inuyama Castle, we went straight to the nearby Urakuen garden. It was a super traditional landscaped garden with a *national treasure* Tea House called Jo-an. The garden was hosting a special ceremony, meaning it was bustling with ladies in full kimono attire. We felt slightly like we were intruding but not because of the people, who were lovely.
We also booked to have a private tea ceremony at another tea house in the garden, which was so peaceful I could have stayed all day.
Unfortunately we couldn’t stay as we only had one full day to spend in Inuyama and we desperately wanted to see Meiji Mura architectural museum. It was a short bus ride from the main Inuyama train station and we spent about 3 hours walking around the huge complex - and we didn’t even go inside the buildings!
The museum was divided into 5 areas which grew progressively grander, leading up to the Frank Lloyd Wright designed lobby of the Imperial Hotel. A couple of my favourites are pictured - I particularly liked the Japanese take on Western homes, which often feature both styles of room (Western and traditional Japanese with tatami mats). There was even a old-timey bus which you could ride from one end of the village to the other.
