My Ninja's Birthday!

Pachinko Parlor. Looks like a casino!
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My husband has always had a fascination with ninjas which I couldn’t quite understand. Maybe that’s why he married me; maybe he thinks I’m a secret agent ninja!

Anyhow, as we had planned to be in Japan around his birthday, I had scheduled our trip around visiting Iga Ueno on this special day. Another interest of his was to drive on the other side of the road so it all worked out perfectly. Seeing as the hotel I had booked was in the middle of nowhere, it suited us best to rent a car. This was his first time driving in Japan so we were quite nervous at first but soon got used to the roads. All I can say is no matter what the cost, you MUST get the car navi. It will save your life, especially if you don’t read or understand Japanese. It is a 2 hour drive from Nagoya to the hotel but the time flew by as we were both so focused on the road. Iga Ueno aka Ninja City is another 30 minutes from the hotel. Ninja city can also be accessed by train from Kyoto in 2 hours.

Our first time driving. Yikes!
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Since we packed so much into this one day, I’ve broken up the day into activities so click on each to the left to get details.

We first stowed our bags at the “resort” and headed straight out for our main purpose and attraction of Iga Ueno to see the Ninja Museum. You’ll see why I use “resort” in quotations when you read my hotel review. Anywhooooo the 30 minute drive from the resort to Ueno Park took us through some windy rural roads. Judging by the lack of civilization, we were quite concerned that we had wasted a day on a terrible mistake.  Twenty minutes into our drive we finally saw traces of civilization by which we mean a huge Pachinko Parlor (pin ball game/gambling which is a favorite amongst Japanese people). The parking lot was jam packed with cars and pretty much the only establishment asides from the smaller closed down pachinko parlor next to it. The rest was all farm land. No matter how small the community, you will always find a grand Pachinko Parlor and local discount supermarket.

The "Italian Restaurant" in the supermarket. Mustard pizza yummm....
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We weren’t sure how long the drive would take from Nagoya and being so focused on not ending up on the wrong side of the road, we had forgotten to eat all day. So, we spotted the only food establishment in sight, which was as you would guess, the local supermarket a few blocks down from the Pachinko Parlor. They had a “food court” which served all kinds of food from udon noodles to pizza.  We were quite surprised that even in such a rural part of Japan, technology had found its way there. Rather than ordering at the counter, you had to make your selection on a vending machine and purchase tickets which you simply brought up to the counter. We didn’t know how to use the machine so we had to ask this kitchen lady who looked like you’re typical rural aunty. What was funny was the look on her face when we asked her how to use the machine. She had this expression like “what hill-billy hick town did you come from” not knowing how to use such a simple and common device…hahahaha! We’re from Canada sorry. It will be another 10 years before the vending machine rage takes off here. OK Canada, are we not ashamed that a small rural village not easily found on the car navigator is ahead of us! Anyhow, I am quite intrigued by this system. From a business perspective, it is very efficient, decreases chances of ordering errors and requires less staff to run an establishment.

Rod snoozing before his B-day dinner. It's a traditional hotel so they won't make your bed till the evening. Slept on floor.
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Anyhow, feeling a bit homesick for western food, we ordered a pizza. Yah, bad idea, the pizza was topped with lettuce and corn and glazed with a thick greasy cheese and mustard ketchup sauce. Yes you read right, mustard. The combination of mustard and grease was so nasty that although we were starving, all we could muster was the energy to stomach 2 slices. I guess it was our stupid fault for ordering western food in Japan and in rural Japan for that matter and expecting the same taste and quality as we would back home but we were hungry ok! Plus the store had an Italian flag pasted across its wall, we figured it was authentic…hahaha. On the positive, the slushy was really yummy and helped wash down the greasy pizza.

Very nice B-day dinner at teppan grill. All to ourselves!
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Stomach full & queasy, we entered the city of Iga Ueno through a welcome gate arched over the road. As soon as you passed the gate, it can’t be mistaken that you’re in the land of the ninjas. Every corner you looked, there was a ninja hanging from the ceiling of the gasoline station, riding a monument of a dog and fashioning new ladies wear. We were driving past these mom and pop stores which were either closed or shut down, wondering all along when we would hit the “city” when we came to the end of the road of civilization back into the rural pastures. It turns out that the “city” was that strip of closed down and out dated stores. So for those of you who are driving, keep your eyes peeled or you’ll drive past the entire city without even knowing it.

Happy Birthday babe!
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We made our way to Ueno Park which conveniently houses all three of the main attractions of Ninja Museum, Ueno Castle and Basho Memorial Museum. I’ve written in length about each attraction so be sure to check out the entries. There were tour buses full of Chinese and Korean (no North American) tourists so I take it that they are known in Asia but not as much here in Canada. We had a great time visiting the museum and watching the live show. Rod had the chance to throw a real life shuriken (ninja star). He said they were a lot heavier than he expected. He did very well, I was quite amazed. We spent a good half day in Iga Ueno (this is at a leisurely pace too) and made our way back to the hotel for some rest before his birthday dinner.

Pimped out ride...hahaha
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Rod’s birthday dinner was amazing. We had a great time. Due to the fact that there were absolutely no other guests staying, we had the teppan grill bar all to ourselves. The chef was a very nice guy who explained all the dishes in detail and gave us some great advice on where to visit and dine in cities that we will be visiting. We had Hida steak, fresh scallops caught that morning and local fresh vegetables which are grown in the area. After dinner we surprised Rod with a birthday cake and a Japanese version of Happy Birthday which all the staff came out and sang to him. The cake was soooo cute! Since we are traveling alone, we rarely have the opportunity to take pictures with the two of us in it (asides from those close up face shots Rod takes) so it was very nice when they took a picture for us with the birthday cake. While we were dining they mounted the picture on a very nice poster board and presented it to Rod with a birthday message. That was very nice and made for a memorable birthday. Although it wasn’t your typical get crazy birthday, it was very different and fun at the same time.

What a poser! He's calm now but wait till he hits the city streets.
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Happy Birthday babe!