Inuyama, An Idyllic Day Trip From Nagoya

A historic city complete with Japan’s oldest castle, a unique shrine for romance and a Showa alley with just too many delicious snacks to choose from, a day trip to Inuyama is a must when staying in Nagoya. I really enjoyed my time here. It went above my expectations and without a doubt is a place I’ll return to. I know many tourists often overlook Nagoya on their way to Kyoto from Tokyo but if you have a little extra time in your schedule, I recommend checking out this often overlooked hidden gem.

In this post I’ll outline what to do in Inuyama & all my travel tips – let’s get started with the castle!

Inuyama Castle

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that I am not a huge fan of Japanese castles. Being British, I’m used to castles with glorious interiors where you can really envision what it must’ve been like to live there. Japanese castles on the other hand, are… well let’s say, much more sparse and tend to lack detailed information in English (understandable but still). I often end up wondering what the place really was like and what its significance was to Japanese history.

This castle is no different – barely any interior and not too much information in English. That being said, I adored this castle. So what was different?

Firstly, I liked that this castle is up on a distinct little hilltop next to a river (the city’s name means Dog Mountain, 犬山、Inuyama). You can’t help but take moments to admire it from afar, taking in more architectural details as you stroll closer. And just look how gorgeous it is during spring!

Some guides recommend starting from Inuyama station, but I recommend starting your day by from Inuyamayuen station (犬山遊園). By arriving there, you’ll get to enjoy approaching the castle after a leisurely river-side walk (beautifully lined with cherry blossoms in spring!).

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The history of samurai at Inuyama Castle

The second thing that amazed me about this castle is that it is the oldest standing castle in Japan! It was built back in 1537 by Oda Yojirou Nobuyasu, an uncle of Oda Nobunaga (a very important samurai!).

Naturally because of its age, it’s main keep is a designated National Treasure (only 4 other castles have this status including such famous giants as Himeji & Matsumoto).

Inuyama Castle is also one of only 12 original castles left in Japan, meaning that their main keep has survived since being built. I know some people like to tick off these sort of things so here’s a link to a list here.

Another interesting historical point to add for my history buffs here is that this castle was used by Toyotomi Hideyoshi! During the Battle of Komaki Nagakute, Hideyoshi & 120,000 men used this castle to fight against Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1584.

I felt really quite amazed that I was able to walk the same floors & look out the same windows of a couple of the most influential people in Japanese history.

Side note: If samurai history overwhelms you like it did me for many years, I really recommend watching The Age of Samurai on Netflix. It helps describe these three key samurai of Japanese history in a clear and most importantly interesting way. It’s very refreshing compared to the many signs found on site of Japanese historical spots which sadly are concise yet confusing at the same time.

Inuyama Castle’s special feature – a 360 degree view

Finally the third thing I loved about this castle is once you climb to the top, you can enjoy vast, panoramic views of Inuyama. You get to walk around the balcony outside to see the view from every angle. If you’re scared of heights it might be a little scary as the barrier to protect you is quite low! It’s truly stunning in springtime & I’ve heard autumn is just as striking too.

Inuyama Castle Access & Details

Cost – ¥550 to enter.

Opening hours – 09.00-17.00pm.

Closest station – Inuyamayuen (30 mins from Nagoya), but also Inuyama station (25 minutes from Nagoya) is walking distance. Both direct on the Meitetsu Nagoya Inuyama line.

Recommended time – It’s quite small for a castle! Once you’ve reached it I would allocate around 40 minutes to walk around, see the view & take photos.

Accessibility – There are some really steep, narrow stairs to climb, so it may not be fully accessible to some people. Like other Japanese castles, shoes must be taken off & carried in a plastic bag given at the entrance.

Side-note: I always think this is a terrible waste of plastic as they’re always new plastic bags, I don’t know why they don’t just make shelves for people to place their shoes like in temples.

Anyway I hope you’ll give this elegant, quaint little castle a visit! It’s one that has a firm place in my heart for sure. Now after you’ve checked out the castle, it’s time to explore two nearby shrines…

Haritsuna Shrine

Very close to the castle is Haritsuna shrine where you can pray to conceive a child, safe childbirth, traffic safety and the usual warding off of evil.

Because I always get distracted whenever I see a shrine, I chose to walk through this shrine on my way to the castle. As you can see from the image below, it has a rather large torii flanked by cherry blossom trees.

This shrine had an interesting feel to it… very quiet, deserted almost, full of stone lanterns and interesting structures like this bridge.

This shrine also sells a range of cute sakura items during spring! I was able to purchase a sakura omikuji (fortune telling paper) and a sakura omamori (protection charm). I received 小吉 meaning ‘little luck’ and in the love section it was particularly damning! So I tied it to a sakura tree to leave the bad luck behind and thankfully I can pray for better luck in romance at the next shrine!

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Inuyama Matsuri

Although Haritsuna shrine may look like a fairly nondescript shrine, it contributed significantly to the culture of Inuyama. It’s where the well-known Inuyama festival (a designated UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage) began back in 1635. Of course the 2021 festival was sadly cancelled due to the pandemic, but in future years, if you can align your visit with the first weekend of April, you’ll be able to enjoy the city’s sights, cherry blossoms and the remarkable three-layered floats full of lanterns!

Sanko Inari Shrine

Now on to a shrine which has made it into my top kawaii/instabae shrines list. Built in the 16th century next to Inuyama Castle, it adds to the historic atmosphere of Inuyama yet also adds a cute charm.

What are the wooden hearts for?

The most distinctive part of Sanko Inari are the walls of heart-shaped wooden ema (prayer boards). They’re full of wishes to meet their perfect partner, be proposed to, have a happy marriage and a peaceful household.

I also saw some ema hoping to focus more on self-love which brought a smile to my face. After all, you have to start by loving yourself in order to be loved!

You might wonder what the kanji is on the ema? It’s 縁 pronounced ‘en’ and in this case it represents the bond, connection or relationship between two people. It doesn’t have to be romantic although I think it’s implied with the heart shape here.

But it’s not just for love!

Being an Inari shrine, it contains the distinctive inari (fox) statues and a row of bright red torii. If you don’t need to wish for love & a happy marriage, instead you can pray for good business and prosperity.

Make sure to visit the little shrine decorated with frogs near the entrance. You can place your money in little baskets and wash them using a ladle. It’s similar to Zeniarai Benten in Kamakura if you’ve visited. It’s said if you wash your money it’ll come back to you multiplied!

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Snack time in Inuyama’s Jokamachi

I’m sure you’re hungry after all that sightseeing! After exploring the castle and shrines, it’s time to head to the Jokamachi (meaning old castle town found at the base of the castle). It’s basically a long street full of restaurants, cafés, souvenir stores most of which are in traditional buildings.

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Travel tip – If you are planning to spend the whole day in Inuyama, why not rent a yukata so you can enjoy the historic atmosphere even more?

When I visited, I arrived early in the morning and it was empty, but by around 11am it started getting busier with many young couples and groups of friends dressed in yukata. Seeing all the couples dressed up and the heart shapes scattered all around the city, I felt that familiar solo-travel pang of ‘Oh I wish my boyfriend was here’. But then I moved onto the cafés and cheered myself up with all the food!

I felt completely spoiled for choice here as there was just too much food to choose from & not enough space in my stomach!

Honmachi Saryo – Time for lunch in Inuyama

My recommendation for a light lunch is to head to Honmachi Saryo (本町茶寮), a beautiful 100 year old traditional town house.

It’s ranked highly on the Japanese food review website Tabelog, 5th in Inuyama and it’s easy to see why! I loved the combination of retro furniture with a modern twist – see the aquarium tv below!

Honmachi Saryo’s specialty – Dengaku

Appealing to many of the young people who visit the area, the food is instagrammable but thankfully manages to uphold decent flavour too (a rare find these days). I decided to try the 7 Kinds of Dengaku & Tea set & it was delicious, just the right amount to fill up my savoury stomach before moving on to sweets elsewhere!

If Dengaku’s new to you, it’s basically food that has been miso-glazed and grilled/roasted. In this set it’s mostly tofu and konnyaku so it’s a plant-based meal. It’s likely to be suitable for vegetarians/vegans (although please check with the server just in case!).

From left to right, the 7 types are sweet & spicy miso, sansho miso, yuzu miso, pizza-style miso, tama konnyaku (the balls), mugwort vinegar miso, and shiso plum meat (very tangy!). Each one has a distinctly different taste. My favourites were the sansho and yuzu miso but I also surprisingly liked the odd inclusion of pizza!

It’s also such a bargain at only ¥980. If you’re looking for something more filling, you can choose a set with rice or soba noodles for an extra few hundred yen.

After that light lunch, I was ready to try some of the cute sweets available & wow is there a lot to try! I didn’t do much research on sweets, I just sort of wandered around and thought I’d try what looked good, a strategy I wouldn’t normally recommend but it paid off in this case!

Yoakeya – Dessert time!

Seeing the cute little pink heart poking out of a matcha dessert drew me to this stylish cafe, Yoakeya (よあけや). It’s minimalistic interior with mossy plant centerpieces and calming music make it the perfect place to unwind after a busy morning sightseeing.

You can choose from two shapes of monaka wafer – a heart or a plum blossom. Obviously I had to go for the heart because it’s the unofficial symbol of Inuyama. It also contrasts so nicely with the matte green of the matcha!

The raw cheesecake set with a drink costs ¥850 so it’s not quite the same bargain as the dengaku set! But it’s delightfully smooth with a rich matcha flavour and is just the right size. Any bigger and it would have gotten too sickly I think.

Koikomachi Dango – Inuyama’s famously cute dango

Despite being full up from all the tofu and raw cheesecake I couldn’t not visit the insta-famous dango shop, Koikomachi. Really recommend trying these colourful, cute little dango as they taste nice too with each one having a different flavour!

They switch up their dango pretty often and the bottom two balls are seasonal flavours. The ones I chose had sakura & ume (plum) flavour, the ume was pretty sour!

They also have seasonal dango for events like Halloween & Christmas (see below), just too cute!

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Inuyama’s Showa Alley

Koikomachi Dango is right at the entrance of Showa Alley (昭和横丁) a narrow walkway full of food vendors with a large seating area full of lanterns at the end. I wished I’d had breakfast at Inuyama, then done sightseeing, then returned to Showa Alley to eat lunch as there were so many places I wanted to try in here.

The term ‘Showa’ by the way refers to 1926-1989 when Japan was under the reign of Emperor Showa (Hirohito). If you mention it to Japanese people, a nostalgic look will probably come over their face. When you see this street, you too will feel like you’ve been transported back in time.

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As I was pretty full and had more sightseeing to fit in, I decided to take my dango to Nagoya Castle to enjoy at their sakura festival.

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IF you have extra time in Inuyama…

If you’re looking for more things to do in this area, other popular spots to check out include:

• Urakuen – a Japanese garden with one of the most beautiful teahouses in all of Japan (also a National Treasure)
• Seeing Cormorant fishing (a traditional practice in Inuyama) during the summer months
• Little World theme park
• Okashi no Shiro (sweets castle)
• Momotaro shrine (yes a whole shrine based on the folk-tale of Peach Boy!)

Okashi no Shiro is probably of more interest to non-European visitors as it’s modeled on a Western castle. I really wished I had time to visit Momotaro shrine but it’s a little inconvenient to get to unless you drive (or walk approximately 40 minutes from Inuyamayuen station).

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Inuyama & found some spots for you to visit! It’s definitely a special little place and I’ll be back one day, hopefully with the boyfriend so I can experience the romantic side to it too.

If you visit & use any of my recommendations, please do tag me on Instagram, I’d love to visit virtually again through you. Feel free to also check out my ‘Aichi’ highlight on Instagram to see video clips of this place too!