In the previous article you saw the new HOTEL μ STYLE INUYAMA experience, and its facilities. Through the hotel, you can also book optional hands-on experiences and excursions to make your time in Inuyama even more enjoyable. These activities are available to anyone, but guests staying at the hotel can get special discounts.

One hands-on activity we tried was making wagashi – traditional Japanese sweets. The varieties of wagashi are diverse and use many different ingredients, but the ones in this activity are made of sweetened rice-flour dough and bean paste.

In this hour-long session, participants make two sweets each. Our teacher – a master wagashi-maker – came to us, and the activity took place right at the hotel, in one of the meeting rooms.

Our first project was to embed a bean-paste center inside some colored dough and shape it to look like a morning glory blossom.

Our teacher guided us through forming the dough and bean paste into the right sizes shapes.

For the second piece, our task was to transform these colorful ingredients into a sweet resembling a chrysanthemum.

Looks like I could use more practice, but the results were tasty enough!

Inuyama is a small city that boasts a rich and varied history. What better way to explore this than with a friendly and knowledgeable local guide? You can book one through the hotel!

We met our guide in the hotel lobby, and from there walked the short distance to the castle town with all its historical streets and buildings, many essentially unchanged from Japan's feudal Edo era.

Our first shop was the Isobe residence -- a typically large merchant-family home and place of business, with the shop area at front and the living area behind and above.

The house surrounds a spacious courtyard, which includes a stuccoed kura, or earthenwork storage building.

As our guide explained, another feature of the house is an unusual outwardly bowed roof like this – a symbol of wealth and power.

Our ambling route took us ever closer to the castle atop the hill overlooking the town.

Inuyama Castle is one of only a very few remaining extant fortifications in Japan, and its tenshu keep, constructed in the 1580s and designated a national treasure, is the oldest in the nation.

Inside the castle we ascended several levels of low ceilings reached by steep stairs -- design features that, our guide explained, were deliberate measures intended to slow the approach of attackers and prevent them from wielding raised swords.

The castle is perched on a promontory overlooking the Kiso River, and the top level affords expansive views of the surrounding city and mountains.

We even spotted Nagoya's skyline off in the distance.

Back at ground level, we leisurely explored the castle town, stopping occasionally to enjoy some of the treats and refreshments on offer.

Our two-hour guided tour was priced at just 1,700 yen when booked through the hotel – 100 yen less than the regular rate.

On our own, we decided to get an up-close look at ukai, or cormorant fishing – the traditional technique of using leashed waterfowl to catch river fish. Cormorant fishing has been practiced in Inuyama for some 1,300 years.

The boat-boarding site was an easy 20-minute walk from the hotel.

Once there, we waited for darkness to fall as the cormorant-masters prepared their boats and birds, the lit-up castle looming in the distance.

Once aboard the boat, the operator and guide explained the tradition as we made our way up the river to where the cormorant-masters and their birds were already at work.

The fishers use torches to attract the fish, which the cormorants dive to and catch. Cords around the necks of the birds prevent them from swallowing the larger fish, which the handlers ease back out of their throats and into catch buckets.

We watched, fascinated, as the masters and their birds worked the waters.

This special glimpse of living tradition was definitely the highlight of my visit to Inuyama.
I hope to get back there again soon!