Ninjutsu to shuriken

Today Norbert drove us in his Mini east to the village of Ueno in Iga, one of the centers of ninja training in feudal Japan. There was a ninja house, with hidden doors, hiding places, escape routes, traps, and all sorts of cool ninja tricks. There was also a museum of artifacts, including weaponry like the dagger disguised as a flute (Michelle's favorite). But the main draw was a short ninja demonstration of martial arts techniques. We even got to throw shuriken (throwing stars) for prizes. I have some photos.

As an added benefit, Eric learned how to navigate Japanese roads with the Japanese version of StreetAtlas ("Super Mapple", no that's not a typo, nor a tasty syrup).

For dinner we went to Dotombori, the entertainment hub of Osaka and home to the giant moving crab, among other things. It felt like Times Square, complete with crazy people with hair-do's from the 80's. The restaurant was Bikkuri Donkii, or the Startled Donkey, a hambahgu resutoran with a wide variety of Japanese-style hamburgers (basically salisbury steaks) in a gold-mine themed setting. For dessert we had "princess of strawberry castle" sundaes. Well, Michelle did, Eric won't admit it. He'll just say he had coffee.