Kai Ueno Castle and the Kabuki Museum
On December 19th, I took the train to Yamanashi Prefecture to visit Kai Ueno Castle and the Kabuki Museum.
I had many views of Mt. Fuji from the train.
The train was a "wan man" train - only the driver of the train. The stations along the way, including where I got off had no station building or staff. This is country-side Japan.
The castle was not much at all. It was four floors, with the top floor being the look out, the first and third floors nothing, and the second floor a little museum with some old pottery. I was the only person visiting the castle. The admission for both the castle and the Kabuki Museum next to the castle was 500 yen.
Some views from the top.
The Kabuki Museum was much more interesting than the castle. I was also the only person visiting the museum that day. There was a Japanese 3-D movie (with the glasses) that was like an advertisement for the local area. It was in Japanese, but I could understand it was talking about the different seasons and festivals of the year.
This area was set up like a stage for a Kabuki performance.
In another room, there were costumes and no photos allowed but the woman working at the museum let me take a couple of pictures of this quilt.
She was very nice and very knowledgable about everything Kabuki. I told her about seeing some Kabuki performances and visiting the Kabuki Museum in Shikoku. The problem with saying a few little things in Japanese to someone is that they assume I really understand what they are saying. She talked a mile a minute, but I could not understand most of what she said. It was okay though.
After leaving the Kabuki Museum, I walked back to the train station and headed for home.
I had more views of Mt. Fuji on my trip back home.
7 comments:
I think the museum looks interesting but yes, the castle would be disappointing. The costumes are wonderful.
Pamela: What a beautiful day trip you had, it is amazing and the quilts are beautiful.
I would love to climb Mt. Fuji, Mike and three of his friends did when he lived in Japan.
Catherine
That sounds like another nice outing using your train pass.
You know, you made that woman's day! She was probably there all day and had no visitors to show around or check on. I bet she went home at the end of the day overjoyed at having met a foreigner who spoke Japanese (even if it was just a little) and showed interest in kabuki. One of your best qualities is spreading joy, Pamela.
I agree, the castle is very spartan compared to Himeiji, Kumamoto or the other 'heavy' ones, but I like small castles, Aya being my favourite.
The quilt is fabulous and cleverly made. Good for those who have a lot of strips of fabric in their stash. I must say, though, that the kabuki made up faces are a bit scary, or at least difficult to understand for those who do not know kabuki.
That looked like a wonderful day out, the quilt is wonderful, Imagree with the comment above, the faces are a bit scary.
Looks a lovely day out.
That was funny about you speaking a little Japanese and her assuming you understood everything she was saying. This has happened to me too, in France when I said in French I could speak a little French and Spain too when hubs and I had learnt some Spanish to be able to get by on a holiday.
Great it was quiet for you!
Are people wearing masks because of Covid or were they doing that anyway?
Barbara x
Sounds like you had another fun trip! The castle is pretty, but really rather small. Looks more like some kind of private mansion.
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