Japan 5: It is a new day, Part II

After leaving the bear museum gift shop, I realized that an art museum that I was interested in was just a three minute walk away.  When I got to the entrance, I saw that the ticket office and the wedding salon were in the same place, as always.



The museum was small but had some beautiful and unique pieces.



The gift shop was very beautiful and very pricey.  I did catch a really cool glass that I thought Miles would like, but I thought he might not like the colors surrounding the picture, so I didn't get it.



Next, it was off to a museum that had reviews indicating that it was a bit weird and unusual.  Not everyone liked it, but many did.  I didn't really know what to expect.  It is called the Hikaru Museum.  The building itself and underground tunnel entrance showed promise.



The museum had western art, Japanese art, and historical artifacts.  After taking my first picture, someone walked over to me to inform me that photography was prohibited in most of the museum.



In some areas there were videos to watch.  In one, there was a hologram.  It was all in Japanese though.



On the fourth floor of the building, in the center, was a structure.  I'm not sure if it is Mayan, but if it is, it should have been my first hint.



Around the back of the structure, on the fourth floor, is a room dedicated to a man.



After I walked past it, I realized I had gone around that floor in the opposite order.  If I had gone the right way, I would have been informed that this guy was the guy who created a religion about "Light."  I had inadvertently picked two places related to each other.  He created the temple that I went to earlier in the day.  It was funny how that worked out.

It was getting later, but I was still interested in doing a quick stop in Shirakawago on the way home.  You had to cross a river in order to get to the village.  It swayed a bit, which always freaks me out.



It turned out that the town was a much, much more commercialized version of where I was staying.  There were tons and tons of tourists and gift shops.  I walked through town, which was larger, and took a few photographs.  I then headed towards a castle overlook that was recommended online.  The online reviews exaggerated the walk up the hill.  The castle doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately, but the view was spectacular.



Some more pictures of the town and the walk up:



I made sure to get back by the time that dinner was likely to be served.  It was 6:30 the night before and I was correct that it was 6:30 this time as well.  The woman in charge of this ryokan is friendly, but mostly keeps to herself.  I informed her that I wanted nothing to do with fish and she understood.  The room was larger, better insulated, had some minor furniture, and more importantly, had air conditioning.



Last night, everyone changed into the gown/traditional robe dress that was supposed to be more comfortable.  I was the only one that didn't.  Today, I changed, and no one else did.  Oh well.  It was a bit heavier than it looked, and after dinner I changed back into my clothes.

Staying at this ryokan is a Belgian couple and a husband, wife, and two adult daughter, originally from France.  The older daughter is currently living in Tokyo, so is taking a trip here with them.  Both daughters and the Belgian couple understood English.  I am more used to the food this time and it was much better without the fish.  It felt like what I imagined a hostel environment would be like.  Unfortunately, although they were all friendly enough and responded to my attempts at conversation, they all reverted to quiet conversations with their families after each attempt.



Therefore, I decided to write these blogs.