A Complete Guide to a Day Trip to Inuyama Castle, Originally Known as 'Baidicheng'

If you find Nagoya a bit boring when visiting central Japan, consider setting aside a day for Inuyama Castle. It's a leisurely visit, and four to five hours should suffice. You'll also have time to check out the popular online spot of the sunglass-wearing Hotei Buddha. ❤️ Must-Visit 🎏【Inuyama Castle】 As one of Japan's five national treasure castles, Inuyama Castle is not to be missed! Originally named Baidicheng, Inuyama Castle takes its name from Li Bai's poem 'Departing Baidi in the Morning Amongst Colored Clouds'. Compared to the Three Gorges, the landscape here is much more delicate, but the view is still among the best of Japan's many castles. Especially worth visiting is the top floor of the castle tower, where the landscape interspersed with mountains and water is truly worthwhile. 🍵【Yūrakuen | Jo-an Teahouse】 A solitary trip to Inuyama, with the scent of grass and moss drifting in the light rain. Enjoying tea in the national treasure-level teahouse Yūrakuen inside the Indigo Hotel is very pleasant. 🎎【Yama-guruma Pavilion】 You can see four festival floats. During the first weekend of April, there's the Inuyama Festival where 13 floats parade through the area. 🥢 Must-Eat There are many places to eat and drink in the castle town, and you can have lunch or afternoon tea here 🥩【Nikuhei】 Just buy a 'missile beef' two-course meal, which includes a serving of raw beef sushi and a serving of grilled beef rolls. 🍡【Hontō Charyō】 When you're tired from walking, it's a good place to sit down for tea. Seven different flavors of skewers with matcha. 🧁【cocotomo farm】 If you like coffee desserts, don't miss this shop 🪭 Tour Route There are three options for departing from Nagoya, take the Meitetsu Limited Express from Nagoya Station towards 【Shin-Tagami】 🚞 Get off at Inuyama Station, return from Inuyama-guchi Station 🚞 Get off at Inuyama-yūen Station, return from Inuyama Station 🚞 Board and alight at Inuyama Station For this trip, to visit the national treasure teahouse in the Indigo Hotel, I chose the second route. It felt a bit boring after getting off, so it's probably better to get off at Inuyama Station. Half a day is enough to enjoy Inuyama. Depart from Nagoya after ten in the morning, return in the evening, and even have time to take photos of the Hotei Buddha. 1️⃣ After getting off at Inuyama-yūen Station, first visit the 【National Treasure Teahouse Yūrakuen】 inside Indigo for photos and tea, or go to 【Meiji Village】 for a visit 2️⃣ Go up the hill to visit Inuyama Castle. On weekdays, there's basically no queue to enter the castle tower. But try to avoid weekends, as you may need to queue to enter Inuyama Castle. 3️⃣ After leaving Inuyama Castle, you can visit 【Haritsuna Shrine】 for safe childbirth, 【Sanko Inari Shrine】 for marriage and fortune, and 【Sarutahiko Shrine】 for traffic safety and business prosperity 4️⃣ Then, search for food along the castle town of Inuyama, or rent a kimono for a costume change. The 【Yama-guruma Pavilion】 is also a spot worth visiting 5️⃣ Finally, take the train back to Nagoya from 【Inuyama Station】 6️⃣ If there's time on the way back, you can stop by to visit the popular online spot of the Hotei Buddha (picture 10) to see what the Buddha looks like without sunglasses