A Walk to Historic Kochi Castle | Kochi, Japan

On our Celebrity Cruise around Japan, we stopped in Kochi. All of the excursions at Kochi were cancelled because our scheduled changed due to a typhoon, so many people from the ship, including us, visited Kochi Castle. There was a coach from the ship to a tourist bus terminal in town and the castle was walkable from that station in about 25-30 minutes. Part of the walk was through a shopping arcade with shops, restaurants, coffee shops and a Family Mart just outside the arcade We. shopped at Daiso and stopped at Starbucks. It isn't a short walk so we took our time and made it a leisurely walk. After the shopping mall, Kochi Daijingu Shrine is across the street and a small, interesting shrine with chickens. It is so peaceful. Waking just a bit more, you see the castle gardens with Kochi Castle soaring above. You walk through the oldest part of the castle, the Otemon Gate, to enter the expansive gardens. You can climb to the top of the castle for views over Kochi or just explore the gardens, which is what we did. What a gorgeous, historical castle. From the Visit Kochi Website - Constructed at the beginning of the 17th century, Kochi’s castle is the only one in Japan where the original castle tower and main keep remain intact. After centuries of surviving wars, fires, and other catastrophes, it is one of the last twelve original castles in Japan, and is designated an Important National Cultural Property. Keep an eye out for all of the intricate details of the castle architecture, like the statues of the legendary shachi sea creatures (half fish, half dragon), gazing down on the city from the roof. On the walk back, we try an egg salad sandwich from Family. Mart and go back through the shopping arcade and find a fabulous Studio Ghibli store, some Gochapon machines and enjoy a leisurely walk back to the coach and then back to the ship. #japan #japancruise #japantravel #travel #kochi #kochicastle #kochijapan #japancruiseport #cruiseship Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:32 Shopping Arcade 00:50 Kochi Daijingu Shrine 02:13 Kochi Castle and Gardens 07:04 Shopping Arcade 07:33 Gochapon 08:04 Studio Ghibli Store 08:53 Another Video You May Like! Music - Ishikari Lore by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100192 Artist: http://incompetech.com/