I had such a wonderful experience on this cultural and historic tour in Nagoya. Tour Guide Keiko Todoroki provided a personal tour of the Kiyosu Castle near Nagoya where I learned much about the history of the area and became and International Samurai! After lunch in a local restaurant we went to the Kirin Brewery where I learned about the details of beer brewing and got to sample some very fine beers. From there we went to downtown Nagoya where Keiko told me all about the history and current development of Nagoya. It was such a fun experience I will always remember.

Our guide Mieko-san met us at the train station and suggested we mix things up a bit, as it was raining and our original itinerary might be challenging. It ended up being a really good day. We went to the Toyota museum, which was very interesting. The staff at the museum were great and we really enjoyed this unscheduled visit. We then went on to lunch and stop over at a caf□ where the proprietor is a samurai armor and sword maker. He showed us several of his pieces and educated us on the art of making swords, helmets, and armor. It was really quite a delight and the kids and I were fascinated with his work and intricacy of his pieces. We finished up at the beer factory, where Mieko-san translated for us as the tour was actually in Japanese. it was a fun beer factory tour and of course my 20 year old son legal drinking age in Japan and I enjoyed the sampling at the end. The staff there were great and very funny throughout the tour.