Waiting for Sakura

Today was our first full day in Japan, so we set out to explore Nagoya. We started with Nagoya Castle, a 17th century castle built by Tokugawa Ieyasu featuring armor, treasures and histories of the Oda, Toyotomi and Tokugawa families. As with so many cultural treasures in Japan, Nagoya Castle was almost entirely destroyed during WWII and replaced in 1959, which reminded me of so many sights in my own country (Germany). Even more interesting than the castle itself was the garden that included a lovely tea house where we enjoyed our first Japanese tea ceremony of this trip.

Then we explored the Tokugawa Art Museum which houses all sorts of shogunal furnishings, armour, and artwork. We were really impressed by the 12th century scrolls and woodblock prints depicting scenes of the The Tale of Genji. There is so much to see here! After a lovely lunch at Sakura Cafe and a walk through the garden adjacent to the museum we made our way back to Sakae to visit the Design Museum, which was an excellent contrast to the Tokugawa Art Museum. The Design Museum houses all sorts of innovative designs including furniture, cars, and technology.

But the cultural theme that emerged today was the upcoming cherry blossom season (Sakura). We saw some beautiful blossoms but think that they were actually plum blossoms. In Sakae we also enjoyed a street performance. If you listen closely you can tell that the song is about "Sakura." How fitting :-)