We moved to Nagoya today, and since it's only two hours away from the apartment in Osaka, we didn't really had to hurry to get there.
First, I went to the Post Office to send some stuff off to home (took me 50 minutes, but only because I had to wait for 15 minutes first, as the Post Office didn't open until 9), then I went back to the apartment to get my stuff and do the check out.
The cleaners probably must have found the two cans of Asahi I left for them by now. ;)
Upon arrival in Nagoya, the first thing we did was checking into the hotel, leaving our luggage and head off to see what Nagoya has in stock, or more specifically; the local castle, since it's in the top three of Japan's castles.
Now that I've seen it, I feel somewhat violated.
You see; this is what you get when you walk towards it:
Beautiful, traditional; a typical Japanese castle.
But alas, once you pay the 500 yen admission fee and step into the castle, you're greeted by faux wood, fluorecent light, fake finishes and a set of elevators.
You see, this castle has been rebuilt several times over the years. A large earthquake levelled a considerate part of the complex, and when the bombers came in 1945, a few hits started a fire which basically took out the entire castle (there's a picture of that fire on display inside the rebuilt castle; once a wooden construction starts burning like that, it's consumed entirely). Only the stone foundations remained, so they started rebuilding the place in 1957.
The majority of the exhibition shows the preserved wall panel paintings, so there's still some original stuff in there, but if you want to see an authentic castle, forget Nagoya, Osaka and Kumamoto, and visit Himeji instead.
I went there in 2004, and the other three really do not hold a candle, compared to Himeji.
Well, I'm off to grab some dinner, now that my feet are rested again.
Cheers, K.