Tohoku { Tsuruga } ～the purple prince in the rural snow～

The deep wood modern city expanded from the Edo busy village surrounding the Tsuruga Castle.

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Upon arrival at night, we first hit the light up of the castle before it turns off at mid-night!

I really love the tree silhouettes casted on the while wall, it brings up the feeling of romance and beauty.

The carefully arranged and decorated trees looks never ordinary again with the warm illumination.

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The cutest hotel I have ever slept in!!

The western x Japanese style refurbishment and furniture ~~~

I think I gotta get this bed in the future - 

Mattress directly on the floor :P

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I am quite astonished by the beautifully decorated street right opposite the hotel. Then, I realised it is actually a historic walk-through of the life of Dr. Hideyo Nogouchi (野口英世).

He is a famous Japanese doctor who investigates bacteria and germs. He has done a lot of medical discovery and finally died in one of the sickness he investigating of. To celebrate his work, his image is imprinted on the new 2004 ¥1000 note~

The road is beautifully paved with red bricks

Specially designed light pole 

Opposite the hotel is the historic home and plaza of Dr. Hideyo Nogouchi. 

The word written on the statue is his  motto - be patience and restraint

This is a postal service of “ a letter to the future me”.

 Time to set up an aim and remind yourself in the future♡

The historic home of Dr. Hideyo Nogouchi♡

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For the sake of saving parking fee, we walked from the hotel to the castle for 20mins.

This is Ninja passage (忍者走),

The opposite staircase is for the convenience for emergency evacuations.

And theres the cute little Inari foxes shrine 

The original complex are mostly destroyed before the Meji era. But simply from the reconstructed plan, it was once enormous.

The most beautiful part of the castle is the purple roof tile.

The colour is extraordinary with snow cover.

Climb over the slope opposite the castle ground, you will see a different view of the castle moat.

And the red wooden bridge on the other side.

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I love the city with a super spacious pathway.

Private gardening and landscape are everywhere to share the liveliness of the city with every passer-by.

Drain covers are also designed with pattern. 

No idea if thre is any technical reason behind this, but it gives a special arty view to the walkway.

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15 minutes away the city centre is the warrior house complex. Unlike the usual warrior houses you can see elsewhere, this one is much bigger and complete.

The dolls you found around the house iillustrated the story of the house owner, pretty of a tragic tho...

The super intense stone tub.

But please dont belittle it as it has a great heat-up system for the freezing winter.

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The tea house

I really like the architecture style of the tea house. It often has different levels and opening, which makes the structure very dynamic like a little maze.

 This opening is the drainage basin for preparimg the tea ceremony.

It's been half an hour until i finally get to the main building...

Modern collage on the door frame~~

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Back to the entrance and you will be served with tea ;D

Super display of kitchen utensils and bowls. This is a super complete set

Japanese houses often have a fake ceiling to flatten up the ceiling for aesthetics.

However, the ceiling is uncovered at the toilet to avoid assassins from hiding above and kill the master when they are having their 'easy time'.

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Time arrangement
Transportation is quite inconvenient in the city. Hence, it takes almost a day for all these scenic spots.

Since we are driving, it took us 4 hours to get around, but we didnt get inside of the castle ;P

Access

There's a scenic bus running around the city and the 'Free Pass' costs ¥500. There're 2 routes, one is black and the other is red, simply different in driving direction.

Please be reminded that the pass is not available on bus but at the JR station and main scenic spots says the castle and the medicine garden.

Bus map>>

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