Trip to Odawara & Hakone (2) - Odawara Castle Ninja Museum

Odawara Castle is an old castle first built in the 15th century. The donjon was dismantled in 1870 and rebuilt in 1960. It is quite big compared with Hamamatsu Castle as it is seen from the platform of Shinkansen in JR Odawara Station. The premises with a moat are also spacious. When we passed by the moat, we saw many carps gathering.

First, we visited Ninja Museum. My sister had been interested in it as it was a new facility opened on April 20, 2019. A ninja is a person who was engaged in espionage, sabotage, assassination, etc. for a feudal lord by using special skills called ninjutsu. During the period of warring states (approx. 1467-1568), Odawara Castle was the home of the Hojo clan who employed the Fuma ninja clan. In the museum, you can learn and experience some ninjutsu techniques.

In the first area, you can see quick transformation from a townsman to a ninja. The explanation in this museum was written in four languages: Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean.

There were some staff members in the museum who gave explanations to visitors. I heard for the first time that you can know the time of the day by seeing the eyes of a cat because the shape and size of the pupils change according to the time. It was interesting.

There was also a room of a ninja house with spaces to hide themselves, for example, behind a scroll.

Outside of the house, ninjas sometimes hid themselves by holding cloth with a picture. My sister succeeded to do that.

The museum provided some other interesting experiences. Finally, we fought against enemies, another group of ninjas appearing on a big screen. I was so busy throwing invisible stars to them so I couldn't take any pictures of this most exciting place in the museum. Unfortunately, we got defeated but came out of the museum alive.

When we walked toward the donjon, I saw a woman ninja in pink cloths beside Tokiwagi Gate. While I was speaking to my mother and sister, she vanished quickly as if she had been a real ninja. Near the gate there was Tokiwakimon Samurai Museum where you can try on clothes of ninja, samurai, or princess. On the second floor of the building, there were many armors and helmets displayed.

The design of this helmet was interesting.

After visiting this museum, we didn’t go inside the donjon but took pictures in front of it. Even though it was a rebuilt one, it was a picturesque and symbolic building in Odawara.