A Day Trip to the Castle Town of Inuyama
Exploring Aichi Prefecture outside of Nagoya
The view of Gifu Prefecture, Inuyama, and Nagoya from the top of Mt. Tsugao.
As fate would have it, I was assigned to write an article on things to do in Inuyama the week before I was due to visit Nagoya. My husband and I visit his family in the city twice a year, and this summer was no exception. In preparation for our trip, I was in search of a new hiking destination nearby for a day of doing our own thing.
Scouring trails in Aichi on AllTrails, I’d previously marked a few near Toyota, but the trailheads seemed rather difficult to access without a car. Luckily, Inuyama is just 30 minutes away by train, making it more suitable for our day trip desires.
So on a sunny June day, we set off on the 8:30 train, us in our hiking gear and the commuters in their suits and ties, a contradiction which never ceases to amuse me.
Inuyama Castle—one of 12 original castles in Japan!
Arrived…or so we thought
In Japan, you know things are about to get exciting when the station only has squat toilets. For outdoor enthusiasts, this is the ultimate sign that you’re in real nature from here on out. Even better if the stalls have cobwebs with joro spiders in them, jeering at you with all eight eyes from the corner as you test your aging knees and do your business.
Upright again, we stepped out of the train station to find nothing but two bus stops. There were two mountains to choose from: Hassosan and Tsugaosan. I’d been wanting to climb Hassosan as it was rated higher on Google Maps and looked more appealing. Unfortunately, I’d underestimated the feat it would be to get to Hassosan.
It should be noted that this was early on in my hiking journey, and I’ve since learned the importance of looking up specific bus routes and timetables in the countryside, because they seldom get you precisely where you want to go when you want to be there!
To round out this lesson, we found out the bus bound for Tsugaosan wasn’t coming for another 20 minutes. With that, we decided to add those kilometers onto our hike and set off.
Shotokudono, the starting point for the stairway up to Jakko-in Temple.
Let the monkeys guide the way
Inuyama has several attractions drawing visitors from across Japan: Little World, a display of traditional houses from around the world, Inuyama Castle and the surrounding Showa Era streets, and Japan Monkey Park.
The presence of the latter grew increasingly audible as we climbed the highway road, being passed by only a handful of cars. The monkey howls reverberating throughout the valleys let us know we were going in the right direction.
Several areas of the highway were incredibly sketchy, blanketed in darkness by a canopy of maple trees and tunnels. But this is exactly what I have my phone flashlight and my reflective hamster simulation hydration vest for.
After about thirty minutes, we made it to Shotokudono, the entry point for the Mt. Tsugao trail.
All 320 steps!
The history of Mt. Tsugao
Mt. Tsugao is a place for dreamers. Favorited by Oda Nobunaga, the powerful unifier of Japan who lived just down the hill in Inuyama Castle, visitors are encouraged to think about their dreams as they ascend the 320 steps to Kannon Jakko-in Temple at the summit.
But first, be sure to stop by Shotokudono, two gorgeous altars in the back of the parking lot before the stairway. You’ll notice there are several souvenir shops with no clerks—you can simply drop your coins in the box as payment. With many sightseeing spots across Japan charging upwards of 500 yen for entry fees, it’s nice that this destination remains free for all to enjoy.
Although Jakko-in is most popular during the fall season when the hundreds of maple trees framing the complex turn to red and burnt orange, in the summer, the greenery offers a splendid contrast to the ancient grey stone steps. As a sign of the season, we narrowly avoided a nest of suzumebachi, or murder hornets, on our right side.
Aiding our safe ascent, though, were the statues of the seven gods of fortune watching over travelers and children on the mountain. Bright crimson flags, too, announced their protective status in Japanese, billowing in the breeze.
320 steps later, we found ourselves at Kannon Jakko-in Temple. First setting my eyes upon the massive temple bell, which is said to make the dreams come true of the person who rings it, I took in the pristine beauty of the grounds.
As you’ll see, my husband jumped in some of the photos I captured of the area.
The best part of Jakko-in, in my opinion, is the lookout point, beloved by Oda Nobunaga. How different must the view of Gifu Prefecture, Nagoya, and Inuyama have looked back then in the 1600s? Regardless, it was spectacular on this day as well, showing us just how far we’d come to get here.
Can you spot my husband making a rare appearance?
Return to Inuyama
Taking a different way back down, the turquoise Kiso River guided us back to the castle town of Inuyama. The scenery made me want to reenact the opening scene of The Sound of Music when Maria sings about the hills being alive, but I didn’t want to offend even the miniature lizards darting in our path with my horrendous singing voice.
By the time we made it back to Inuyama, it was just 11 a.m., but my stomach was rumbling for lunch. Finally walking down the old-fashioned Joka Machi main street, we found a hand-cut soba restaurant to fill our bellies at.
If you’ve never had hand-cut, freshly-made soba, add it to your Japan bucket list. The buckwheat noodles tasted miles better than the packaged ones, and getting to watch the man prepare our noodles while we waited added something to the process.
And during the summer, there’s no better combination than cold soba noodles dipped in a salty mentsuu sauce and crispy tempura!
Inuyama has two culinary specialties: gohei mochi and tofu dengaku. But before we tried those, we had one more destination to hit up: Inuyama Castle.
Once the very residence of Oda Nobunaga himself, Inuyama Castle is one of only twelve castles in Japan that remain in their original state, with many being destroyed in fires, earthquakes, and bombings. Visitors can walk inside for a fee, climbing up several perilously steep staircases on all fours. If you’re afraid of heights, it might be best to stay on the ground flour!
Just to note, the castle does not have a wheelchair-accessible entrance, so wheelchair users will be limited to the castle grounds and downtown area.
At the top of the keep, you can view pictures of the unifier and details about his life. If I remember correctly, the descriptions were only in Japanese, but you can glean enough information from the pictures.
The most appealing point of Inuyama Castle is the opportunity to walk the entire outside of the keep on a narrow veranda. At this height, you get open views of the Kiso River and surrounding area, with Mt. Tsugao hanging out in the back—truly stunning!
But the worst part of Inuyama Castle is going back down those same stairs. Don’t be embarrassed if you have to take it slow, though—even the normally fearless obaasan and ojiisan inch their way down with ample caution.
Nevertheless, I lived to tell the tale and returned to the main street for some Showa Era treats. First up was the gohei mochi, a favorite in the Chubu region. Unlike dango, a type of mochi with three balls of rice and powdered sugar pounded smooth, gohei mochi retains the texture of the rice chunks, often shaped into an oval and grilled for maximum crispiness. The roasted flavor is sometimes accompanied by a red miso sauce—another specialty of Nagoyan cuisine.
I don’t always love the chewy texture of dango, so gohei mochi is a nice alternative for me. I imagine it would be even better on a crisp fall day, warming you up after a long hike with crunching leaves underfoot. Alas, it works for a hot summer day, too!
Tofu dengaku is the second specialty of Inuyama, but it’s not just tofu and miso sauce. No, the shops here do tofu a little differently, offering unique flavors such as pizza tofu, with a tomatoey block of tofu, a splotch of marinara, and melted cheese on top. The skewer bites were too small and overpriced for my liking, but it was interesting enough to try at least once.
The stunning view from the upper balcony of Inuyama Castle.
And thus
With that, our journey to Inuyama came to an end. My Japanese husband has that annoying gene where his sweat doesn’t smell, but for me, it was high time to get back home and shower.
Once cleaned up, I was able to reflect on what had overall been a really fun trip to a part of Aichi I’d never been to before. Especially considering how little there is to do in Nagoya once you’ve been there as many times as I have, finding a new place to visit is always a success. I’m not sure when I’ll be in Nagoya next, but I’d love to venture out to Hassosan at some point.
Access:
Getting to Inuyama is relatively simple. Starting at the Nagoya Meitetsu Station, take the Inuyama Line Express towards Shin-Unuma, getting off at Inuyama Station after about thirty minutes.
To get to Tsugao, you can take the bus bound for Little World and Japan Monkey Park at the east exit of Inuyama Station, but you’ll still have to walk two kilometers after that. Since the 320 steps to Jakko-in aren’t much of a hike, I recommend walking the full 3.6-4 kilometers along the Inuyama City Road—just make sure you have your phone flashlight to keep yourself visible to cars. The walk is all uphill, but doable for everyone from beginners to experienced hikers.
According to Google, there is no direct bus from Inuyama Station to the trailhead of Hassosan. The best access point that I can confirm is the Little World bus stop. From there, it’s a seven-kilometer walk to Hassosan. You might be able to catch a taxi as it’s a busier location, but there’s no guarantee.
If I do make it out to Hassosan, I’ll be sure to update this blog post with more detailed information on how I got there and whether it’s doable as a day hike, which it looks to be.
Regardless of which mountain you choose or whether you remain in the downtown area, rest assured there’s plenty of food and beautiful sights to make your travel worth it.
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