Inuyama City's most important attraction is one of my favorite museums in Japan. In fact, it may well be the best reason for a Nagoya stopover. A 100-hectare (250-acre) open-air architectural museum, it features more than 65 buildings and structures dating from the Meiji Period (1868-1912), all beautifully situated on landscaped grounds on the shores of a lake. Before Japan opened its doors in the mid-1800s, unpainted wooden structures dominated Japanese architecture; after Western influences began infiltrating Japan, however, stone, brick, painted wood, towers, turrets, and Victorian features came into play. Unfortunately, earthquakes, war, fire, and developer greed have destroyed most of Japan's Meiji-Era buildings, making this a priceless collection.
On the grounds are Western homes that once belonged to foreigners living in Nagasaki and Kobe, official government buildings and schools, two churches and a cathedral, a post office, a bathhouse, a kabuki theater, a brewery, bridges, Japanese-style homes (including one that belonged to Japanese novelists Mori Ogai and Natsume Soseki), a martial-arts hall, an assembly hall used by Japanese immigrants in Hilo, Hawaii, and even a prison. Don't miss the front facade and lobby of the original Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and containing some of the hotel's original Wright-designed furniture. In fact, most of the buildings display furniture and other items related to the building in which they're housed. You can mail a postcard from the post office, buy candy at the old candy shop, have coffee or tea in the Imperial Hotel sitting on original Wright-designed chairs, or stop for a drink at the brewery. Plan on spending at least 3 hours here.
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