I must be getting tired. My clockwork system for arranging hotel stays broke down, and yesterday evening I realized that I had no place to stay this evening and the following one. In effect, I found two new days in my life. The plan was to go south along the west coast of Lake Biwa to Otsu, but they won't be expecting me there until two nights from now. What am I going to do with these two days?
A quick check of the map showed me I could head for the urban footprint of Kyoto (probably 50 km away), or delay the pain by visiting one of the other small cities in the periphery of Kyoto. I settled for the town of Iga, because they call themselves the Ninja City. What is that all about?
The drive along the west shore was delightful, and I was just gliding on the astral plane when I hit Otsu, which is a fully developed area at the southernmost end of the lake. The lake itself becomes a lot narrower here, as if the full width of a ping-pong paddle had given way to the handle. This is called the Southern Basin, and is not only narrower, but also shallower (5 to 10 m) and more eutrophic than the Northern Basin (50 m deep on the average and mesotrophic). As a landscape the Southern Basin is attractive, because you can see both shores, which makes for pretty views.
I moved stoically through Otsu, and since I am coming back here in a couple of days I will reserve further judgment until I have had more time to let it permeate through me. All tortures end, sooner or later, and after an hour I found myself back on the open road, zig-zagging my way through luscious canyons until I reached the intermontane plain of Iga. The one lonely promontory is where the feudal castle is located, and also where one can find the Ninja Museum. I don't know if this is documented history, but the city council claims that this is the birthplace of the ninjas, who were farmers who hired their services as spies, burglars, soldiers of fortune, or assassins. The first thing you see in the museum is a ninja house, where a character actor demonstrated for us the secret panels, false ceilings, hidden basements, panels to secret compartments in the walls, and escape tunnels that made the whole house akin to a Gruyère cheese (I thought the ninjas were home or castle invaders, but apparently they were scaredy-cats who lived afraid that someone was going to come into their homes and steal their stuff).
The museum part was very interesting, with cool displays of the way ninjas moved like ghosts through the swamps using wide wooden sandals, their clever tools for breaking and entering (how difficult could it be with houses built of thin wood and paper?), lock picks, and grappling hooks. We all think of ninjas dressed in black, but apparently they favored dark blue peasant pants and shorts which, on top of making for good camouflage, were nicely augmented with enough pockets and gear to be the envy of Inspector Gadget.
Ah, but I know what Ronnie would love to know: What weapons did they use? Apparently the ninjas were experts in the preparation of gunpowder, and used all kinds of petards, bombs, and shrapnel cannon blasts. They also had cool short swords, knives, and an incredible variety of shuriken (throwing stars). However, their favorite killing technique was strangulation. Just your friendly peasants trying to make a few additional yen.
I think tomorrow I might take the train to Nara, which is a very important religious center.
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