On the way to Nagoya, we stopped at a knife factory. All sorts of sharp instruments were available for sale, but the highlight was the opportunity to have a free photo decked out in a kimono. The choices were so rich and luxurious.

We visited a Ninja Museum too. Anyone who remembers The Samurai (Shintaro) or Phantom Agents would have loved this place! We had a short talk by a “ninja” who showed us all the tricks and hiding places a ninja knows. Then we wandered through the museum and learnt lots of snippets about the Ninjas. It was wonderful and such a flashback to our childhoods in the sixties.

After a few more hours on the bus we visited the Bamboo Forest in Nagoya. The sun filtering through the grove was gorgeous. I was surprised how many different shades of bamboo there were.

The shrine we visited had one thousand Toriis ( the iconic Japanese gate we see in many pictures). We didn’t walk through them all but the colour was spectacular, each one is sponsored, so some are in better shape than others. The bright orange (supposedly vermilion) was fantastic, I loved this place!