“My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen. I hate the three minutes you have to wait while the water boils. And my dream is to one day become a Hokage. Then everyone will have to respect me at last.”

– Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto

Ninjas are cool. The anime Naruto showed that being a shinobu (ninja) are the coolest thing in the world. But unlike the ninjas in the anime, the real ones who once roamed the Japanese lands do not possess superhuman strength and powers. Ninjas were actually covert mercenaries in feudal Japan responsible for espionage, sabotage, infiltration, assassination and guerrilla warfare. Their methods were somehow labeled as “dishonorable” in contrast to the samurai rules. However, their legendary powers (which were just based on folklores) such as control of the elements and invisibility made them look cool in the Western perception. Anyway, I had the chance of walking along with the “ninjas” nearly 5 years ago.

Date: July 31, 2011

It was the last Sunday of my internship in Tochigi during my PhD course. And the ever kind Kirinoki-sensei, my supervisor during the internship, has promised to bring me to some of the good places there. And one of them is Nikko Edomura or Edo Wonderland. Edo Wonderland is a history theme park to show the Japanese life during the Edo Period (1603-1868). The park resembles a small town built in Edo style architecture populated by townspeople in period costume.

 

There are various shops and restaurants around Edo Wonderland, most of which sell souvenirs such as teapots, woodblock prints and toy weapons. Other attractions around town, dubbed as “Experience Zones”, are amusement points such as a Haunted Temple filled with Japanese spirits and demons, the labyrinth Ninja Trick Maze and Ninja Kai Kai Tei (House of Illusions) where the walls seem to bend and balls roll uphill. You will surely feel like a ninja when you enter these areas. There are also wax museums exhibiting violence and vengeance (Choushuu-han Residence and Kodenma-cho Jail House).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another good feature of the park are the live performances, so one must take note of the schedule of these performances. And for us, due to time constraint, we have only watched 4 of them: the Grand Ninja Theater (a must see!) showing the overwhelming speed and amazing dexterity of the ninjas; the Mikoshi, a Shinto shrine carried by a bunch of townsmen while the villagers threw water to it; the Culture Theater Wakamatsu-ya (which I didn’t understand at all, haha!) depicting the hospitality of the beautiful Oiran (Japanese courtesan) to the noble Samurais and the rich; and the Oiran Dochu Parade, with the Oiran wearing a high platform getta shoes.

 

It was a very nice Edo experience, with the ninjas and the Oiran. It’ll be really cool to be a Hokage, the strongest shinobi, just like Naruto (lol!). Edo Wonderland is definitely one of Japan’s coolest attractions!

For more information about Edo Wonderland, just visit their website: http://www.edowonderland.net/