The center keep in the picture below was actually burned down during the bombing in WWII. (Remember: wood and paper.) This is a reconstruction and the inside is like a museum, containing artifacts, photographs, models, and the like. The stone foundation, however, is the original. Notice the golden fish statues on the top of the roof. Those are very famous and are a symbol of Nagoya. In souvenier shops you can buy golden fish keychains, washcloths, air fresheners, purses, everything. I've even seen pastries made to look like these fish.
This was one of the exhibits inside the castle, showing how the huge stone foundations were built: by guys in loincloths.
During WWII the area around this castle was used as a district army headquarters. These small corner towers survived the bombing. Here's one of them with the old moat. If someone had visited the castle during WWII, I think this view might have been the same.
This evening my host mom said something really odd. Origami boy was whistling in the kitchen before dinner.
"Origami boy, stop that. It's evening." Host mom said.
"...what?" I said.
"Don't you know?" She replied. "Do you not have this saying in America too? Whistling at night attracts snakes."
...what?
Has anyone else heard this saying before?
2 comments:
Haha, I love the part about whistling and snakes. "Origami boy, stop that. It's evening." Classic.
So, I really like the pics you took here. The one where there is a boy holding a purse is quite entertaining, and the corner tower picture has a crow in mid-flight, very majestic.
Thanks Doug. :) You're right, there is a boy holding a purse in that picture; I didn't notice.
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