Odawara Castle/Kyoto

We decided to go see the Odawara Castle before catching the bullet train to Kyoto.  We wanted to see a castle at some point and, logistically, this one made the most sense.  Charlotte was very excited to "see a real castle where the Disney princesses used to live".  We took the train from Gora to Odawara and left our suitcases in a locker at the train station.  It was a short walk from the train station to the castle.

Ready to leave Gora Station

Beautiful cherry blossoms surrounding the bridge to Odawara Castle

 

Charlotte, Jenneke and Tommy on the bridge

The castle was built in the 1400s for the Omori Family.  It was destroyed in 1703 by an earthquake.  It was rebuilt again and then, in 1870, the castle was taken down and the pieces were sold.  A second earthquake in 1923 destroyed the remaining walls.  The castle was restored in 1960 as a museum.  The restored castle was built without any interior walls, so you didn't get a good feel for how they actually lived in the castle, but the artifacts in the museum were interesting.  The grounds of the castle were beautiful.  You had to pay an admission to get into the castle, but could walk around the grounds for free.  There were hundreds of people eating, playing, and relaxing around the property.  It was a Wednesday, but there was a market on the grounds with around 20 stalls selling food and handicrafts.  We had a great time.

For some reason there was a small cage with some monkeys near the castle.
We learned later this is the only variety of monkey found in Japan.

Charlotte and Tommy on the castle wall

Odawara Castle

The walls had seven layers to make them extremely strong.  This picture shows the different layers.  

Huge doors protecting the castle.  You had to go through several sets of these to get on the castle grounds.

Tom, Charlotte, and Tommy from the castle balcony

Street market on the castle grounds

Charlotte with a giant sweet potato stick-yummy!

Then we took the bullet train to Kyoto.  I was glad we opted to visit the castle in Odawara instead of waiting to see one in Kyoto, because it was raining when we got to Kyoto.  Our hotel was very close to the train station.  It was the smallest room we stayed in in Japan.  It was considered a deluxe studio.  It would have been roomy for 1 person for a short stay, but was crammed with 4.  There was a bed in one corner for Tom and I.  The kids slept on a futon mattress in the adjacent living area.  There was just enough room to get by their bed to get to the bathroom.  We had a VERY small kitchen, The bathroom was interesting.  We had one room for the toilet, one room for the shower, and the sink was in the hallway.  It was nice to be able to use all of them at once if we needed.  However, the sink was across from the kitchen and there was a cutout in the wall between the kitchen and the living room.  Therefore, we had to worry about the noise and light from the sink area bothering the kids once they were in bed.  

Our bed

The mattress just fit on the floor next to the couch.  (The couch also pulled out into a bed, but it completely blocked the doorway and  wouldn't have been practical)

kitchen

Shower room

Toilet room

Sink with front door on the right