Maniac(geek) place Togakushi
Togakushi(Togakure) ninja art style museum
Across from the entrance to Togakushi Okusha Shrine, you’ll find the Togakushi Folk Museum, the Ninja Trick House, the Togakushi Ninja Museum, and the Shuriken Dojo.
The Togakushi Ninja Museum stands next to the Togakushi Folk Museum. The building, originally the home of a wealthy farmer, now houses both museums. When Yu-pon visited, they first found displays of traditional farming tools on the ground floor and wondered where the ninja exhibits were. As it turned out, the entrance to the Ninja Museum was actually on the outside—along the side of the house—with stairs leading up to the second floor.
Yoshiaki Hatsumi, the director of the Bujinkan in Noda City, donated old documents and ninja tools to this museum. There are photos of a young Hatsumi dressed in ninja costume, practicing ninjutsu with others—these are fascinating to look at. The photo displays help visitors easily understand how real ninja trained and played. The tools are categorized and presented with explanatory notes showing how they were used.
Halfway through the route, I looked up and was surprised to see a ninja mannequin hanging from the ceiling!
There are so many unique ninja tools on display—such as swords disguised as sticks or pipes, blowguns, and gunpowder-style hand grenades—that you won’t find anywhere else. The quantity and quality of these exhibits are so impressive, you’ll never get bored. Yu-pon hopes they’ll make the space a little more cozy.
1.Ninja Trick Mansion
The inside of the house is like a labyrinth—full of unexpected surprises—and you’ll have fun exploring it. Yu-pon thinks this trick house may have inspired the idea of the ninja house in Japan.
2.Shuriken dojo
You actually get to throw real shuriken here!
Togakushi Folk Museum／Togakushi Ninja Museum／Ninja Trick Mansion
Please note: closed on Wednesdays.
Road to Togakushi Okusha Shrine
The 2km forest path from the torii gate to Togakushi Okusha and Kuzuryu Shrines
Togakushi Shrine is a shrine with a history of more than 2,000 years ago its founding, consisting of five shrines (Hōkō-sha,Hino-miko-sha,Chu-sha,Kuzuryu-sha and Oku-sha) at the foot of the Togakushi Mountain. 2km approach to the Togakushi Oku-sha Shrine(a innermost building behind main part of the shrine) and Nine heads dragon(Kuzuryu) shrine.
Walking uphill from Hōkō-sha, the lowest of the five shrines, to Chū-sha takes about 40 minutes for 2 kilometers. From there, it’s another 40-minute walk (2 km) to the entrance of Oku-sha and Kuzuryu-sha. Then comes the final stretch—another 2 kilometers, about 40 minutes on foot—to reach the shrines themselves.
This last part is walk-only. But along the way, you’ll pass through a breathtaking avenue of towering cedar trees—so massive and full of age that Yu-pon had to stop and just stare in awe. Thinking that mountain monks and ninjas once trained here… it really makes you feel the weight of history in your bones.
| Name; | Togakushi shrine |
| Place; | 3506,Togakushi,Nagano City,Nagano |
| by bus; | There is a high-speed bus bound for Nagano Station from Tokyo (Shinjuku / Ikebukuro), Nagoya, Osaka / Kyoto |
| by train; | From Nagano station by taxi |
Togakushi Shrine (EN)
