Shiga and Ninjas
We explore Shiga Prefecture, which is on the other side of Kyoto when traveling from Osaka. We took a JR train and reached Kusatsu in about an hour, then transferred over to the Kusatsu line to head over to the Ninja Village. This part of Japan is pretty relaxing, with farm fields and nature dominating the landscape.
Koka Ninja Village
Shiga and Mie were the home of the ninjas back in the day, so one of the attractions for families is the Koka Ninja Village. The location is a bit remote, but they offer a free shuttle which we called when we arrived at the nearest train station. The guy who picked us up was from Australia, so it was refreshing to speak in English again and we found out he married into the family that runs the ninja park. He provided us a lot of insight on how they manage the old original ninja house, maintain the thatched roof, etc. Honestly, the park/village was a bit run down and needed lots of care, but he had recently come to Japan to help out after the founder had passed away. That’s a pretty cool transition, from office worker to ninja!
First off, one must dress like a ninja to get a feel for the ninja life style.
My favorite part of the village was the ninja house, that was transported from it’s original location to here a long while back. It had traps, secret doors and hidden escape routes!
Kids can participate in the ninja training course, which has various activities including wall scaling, roof walking, a secret tunnel and more.
And finally, being a ninja wouldn’t be complete without throwing some shuriken (throwing stars). You could buy some in the gift shop as well, but probably not allowed on airplanes.
We enjoyed a fun afternoon, and the same guy gave us a free lift back to the train station. I would say it’s worth a visit if you have small children and happen to be in the area. There is another ninja place in Mie which we may visit in the future.
Miyano Onsen
In the middle of the farm fields, sits an old ryokan (inn) that has about 10 rooms and the owners live on site in a very old school beautifully kept house. I believe the ryokan has a history of 100+ years and it has locally produced ceramic soaking tubs. Once you leave your shoes at the front door, you didn’t have to put them on again to go between room/dining rooms/baths. It was like being at your friend’s house!
Garden and entrance.
Dinner was quite amazing, we got the sukiyaki dinner with local Omi beef.
Appetizers weren’t bad either.
Kusatsu
On the way back to Osaka, we decided to stop by Kusatsu on Lake Biwa. There is a famous onsen town called Kusatsu, but this is not the same place. Kusatsu is a nice town that was on the route where the daimyos would do their yearly travels to Edo (Tokyo) in the Edo period (1600-mid 1800s). Along the route, many ryokans thrived to accommodate the travelers and it’s a popular route for people to hike across Japan, visit historic/preserved districts and get a feel for what travel was like back then. One such ryokan was used by the highest ranked officials and is now a bit of a museum.
Kusatsu-juku was enclosed in walls and had a guard post. Of course, the inside was fit for lords and had a special private bathroom for the dignitaries.
Kusatsu-juku was enclosed in walls and had a guard post. Of course, the inside was fit for lords and had a special private bathroom for the dignitaries.
Imagine sitting inside this little box and being carried about for 100s of miles. I think I would rather be walking outside, it can’t be that comfortable in there… for weeks!
Maybe someday, we’ll do the route on foot as well, or at least the interesting parts of it.