I slept slightly  better this night – though still had an early start, to catch an early non-JR train to Inuyama (~30 minutes on local  express train, ~20km). I made it there before 09:00, when everything,  including the “historic” town alley were still quiet (jetlag is worth something at last), I made my way towards the castle.

It was busy this being Sunday – it took a while to get a ticket (well, the ticket office just had opened) and then another 30min to get into the castle for a trip up the tower for great views of the area. Good to be early as things were more busy when I got out – with expected waiting times now close to 90min.

I made my way back through the “historic” alley with  shops and  museums now  open. I also had a Hida beef “sushi” snack (plus a matcha latte float) and learned about the castle’s history, as well as the yearly cherry blossom festival and the festival floats and the string puppets used on the floats.

I made it back to the train station around midday to head over to Gifu (~45min on a local train, ~20km) for another castle … starting with a cable car ride up and then a bit of a walk (should have worn my hiking boots to hike up and down) and even better views. On the way back to the station I stopped at the Gifu Great Buddha … from here it was on a bus to the station and another 20min ride on a local express bus back to Nagoya … for an early dinner and a bit of sento time and relaxation in the hot water.