Togakushi / Ninja Village / Iga-Ueno

Because I have received so many letters asking how to sign up for ninjutsu training at The Ninja Village, I want to point out that it is an amusement park, NOT an actual village full of ninja or a place to study ninjutsu. Togakushi doesn't have any ninjutsu training, either. Above, a map of the grounds. Very young Japanese school children visit here, and once in awhile, some strange roundeye grownups do, too! Unfortunately, most of my photos of this are slides so I can't offer many for you to look at. Here is some information about the Village: Address:Togakushi-mura Kimiminochi-gun Nagano prefecture 381-4101 Phone 1-81-26-254-3723 / FAX 1-81-26-254-3850 Open: 9am-5pm (Late April - Late Nov.) Closed: Thursdays (except mid.July to late August) Fee: 1). Admission Adult (includes elementary students) 450yen /Child (over 4) 200yen 2).Admission with two attraction tickets Adult 1000yen / Child 800yen 3).Admission with three attraction tickets Adult 1200 yen / Child 1000 yen 4).Admission with six attraction tickets Adult 1800 yen / Child 1600yen

On the left is a photo of my teacher, Stephen K. Hayes, flanked by the two men who own and operate the Ninja Village. On the right, flanked by the same two, is James Husfelt who organized the trip that year. . . . . Below is one of the many little delights that you can try out while at the village. Don't be fooled by how easy it looks here. I am very happy there are no photos of me, wildly trying to keep these logs from swinging about while I clung to the ropes! Can you imagine this sort of "amusement park" in the United States? Lawsuits would abound as the little darlings fell off and broke their arms.

I pose on top of one of the many climbing arrangements while, in the right photo, Brin climbs the net while Stephen watches. I climbed the net too, but with my camera around my neck (thinking to take a photo from up on top). Thing is, the camera kept getting caught in the net!

Togakushi / Ninja Village / Iga-Ueno