A tour to the Inuyama Castle, the Karakuri Pavilion and the Meiji Village Museum in the city if Inuyama in Aichi Prefecture was conducted. The scenery from the dungeon of the Inuyama Castle was breathtaking (https://inuyamajo.jp/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuyama_Castle). The surface water of the Kiso River was silky smooth and calm. This is a solidly built castle by the river. You can easily realize that this location is a strategically important point to govern the state. In the Karakuri (mechanical doll) Pavilion, a thorough explanation was made while showing the mechanical movements of string-attached or clockwork puppets (https://www.aichi-now.jp/en/spots/detail/3703/). We learned that the antique puppets used on the top stages of the floats used during the Inuyama Festival in April were extremely valuable and important cultural assets. Then, we moved to have lunch at the Meitetsu Inuyama Hotel and had Japanese Washoku-Bento lunch (https://www.m-inuyama-h.co.jp/en/). The Meiji-mura Village was very entertaining (https://www.meijimura.com/). Since the houses are sparsely located, the guests were advised to utilize the Village buses. The guests enjoyed the Meiji-era costumes and cuisine, and had fun riding the streetcars and steam locomotives. The weather was sunny and warm.
NHK program about Karakuri Ningyo (Mechanical Dolls): https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/6032011/
A cruise ship, Inuyama Castle and the Meiji Village facilities, Inuyama-city, Aichi, 5/07/2017