Iga - Home of the Ninja!

"He picks up scraps of information
He's adept at adaptation
Because for strangers and arrangers
Constant change is here to stay"

Well, last night was all quiet at the Hotel Fine Tsu, except for the cleaning guys twice coming into our room, not expecting anyone there overnight. We weren't indecent, they apologized, no harm, no foul. We were up and out by 6, determined not to get caught out in the record heat we've been having the last few days. It'll be 90 today, so the sooner we get out, the less heat we'll have to deal with.

The roads were not too bad leaving Tsu. Early commuters were out in force, but within an hour we were back on mountain country roads, the most beautiful kind in Japan.

Streams, rivers and creeks spawned countless little waterfalls all along the road

A small rest area by a temple

It took about four hours, going slowly due to the mountain and the heat, to make it to Iga, Home of the Ninja!

This one greeted us at the station entrance

These guys showed up all over town where the maps were

They were on street tiles

lamp posts

and, of course, manhole covers

Getting into town well before check-in time, we had some hours to burn, so we cleaned up in the public restrooms, dropped our trailers at the hotel and made our way to the one and only, Iga Ninja Museum. It was actually very well done, with lots of facts and explanations about ninjas, their history and some myth-busting. There was an actual "ninja house" on the grounds. The home once belonged to a now famous local ninja. When the city bought the home, they moved it to the park and use it for demonstrations. It was great, and the kid they had presenting it was very good.

A Ninja and His Ninja Rat

This was the real front door to the house. People were smaller back then...

A demonstration of a hidden weapons cache in the floot

The house had rotating walls, secret doors, an escape tunnel several places to hide and spy on someone entering your home, a hidden area for money and secrets and a quick-access hidden weapons cache. All very cleverly designed. The weapons cache, in particular, could only be accessed if a sliding door was open a certain way and you stepped on the correct board right at the wall. Also, everything was designed left-handed, as the ninja would use his/her right hand to hold concealed weapons and tools.

The rest of the museum was just as much fun. Lots of historical bits, many ninja tools on display, examples of secret code using ancient Japanese letters. Great stuff. The only downside was we were there on a Monday, which is the day museums and such usually close. The museum and house was open, but the Ninja Show was not, so we didn't get to see nijutsu in action!

The seven disguises of ninja

mud shoes, to cross muddy moats quickly

climbing tools, made from everyday implements

If you ever find yourself in Iga, you owe it to yourself to check out the museum.

Afterwards, we climbed up to the restored Iga Castle, which wasn't really restored, as it was never finished. It was started several times, the changed several times, but didn't get completed before the Meiji Restoration. It was still a worthwhile visit, though not nearly as authentic as some of the other castles we had visited.

Iga Castle

Armor and headgear of previous inhabitants

Sumi and the castle mascot, Ta-iga (get it?)

Sumi wanted to hit this so badly! Too bad we didn't have any bachi with us.

Once we checked in and cleaned up, we needed to stop at the store for some food for tomorrow and some lunch for today. On the way, we came across a medium sized temple with some interesting statues.

Nice, well-maintained gate

And lots of....cow statues?

The rest of the days was spent doing boring errands like laundry, etc. We we tired after the last few days, and with a longer ride tomorrow, we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant, which can be dicey. What we ended up with was a sukiyaki-like feast featuring Iga Beef, which is almost as well known as Matsusaka and Kobe beef for its flavor.

Half of the dished contained fish, the other half were very good. The beef was amazing!

The beef, after cooking in the provided pot, really melted in your mouth. The salad had a wasabi dressing that Sumi couldn't take, but I loved. I was ambushed by the tempura. Half of it was vegetables, one was obviously shrimp, but the fish tempura was just plain unfair (and looked like potato).

One more cycling day left! Tomorrow we head up and over the mountain to Kyõto!