Cathy, Dave, and Roxana at the entrance to our inn in Narai. Note the wooden architecture. It is one of many buildings in this town which have been declared a Cultural Asset by the Japanese government, as these buildings have been kept very much the same as when they were built in the Edo period.
Dave getting dressed in our traditional tatami room in robe provided by the inn. Note futons behind Dave. 
Our gourmet dinner.
At dinner. Upon being told by me that he could be my samurai, his response was an eager 'Do I get a sword?'
Tomorrow we begin hiking the Nakasendo with an 11 mile and 2000 foot of gain day to the next post town. [post-trip update: the gain was much less; Dave made a calculation error when converting from meters to feet].
Kappy's apt comment:
Of course Dave would want a sword..... to slay dragons...... or maybe you'll come across Godzilla.
Yes Dave, you get a sword to protect us from the bears.
ReplyDeleteIKARIYA is the name of our Narai minshuku. What I loved was it's central location in the heart of old Narai. All of the wooden homes are protected and maintained in the particular style of this area of the Kiso Valley with a second store that juts out.
There was much fine lacquerware for sale in all the shops as this town maintains a tradition of poducing some of the finest in Japan. Crdi crads accepted and needed.
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I remembered the Innkeeper's wife asking if Dave was an artist. She thought his beard and long hair which Japanese artists & writers adopt was his red badge of artistic endeavor. Nice going, Dave.
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