Edo Wonderland (日光江户村), or “Nikko Edomura” in Japanese is a theme park that reenact the culture and history of the Edo Period ( 1603 – 1868). The 45000m2 park with its lush greens, stone paths and wooden architecture, has plenty of things to do and see. Museums, parades, haunted houses, ninja shows, water shows, boat cruises, archery ranches, costume dress-ups, shopping, eating and more. I must say that one day wasn’t enough for us.
From the “Nyan Mage” (cat) mascot, the samurai to the horse caretaker, all the staff are extremely friendly at Edo Wonderland and are ever willing to strike a pose with us. Remember to take a photo with the Ninjas too after the Grand Ninja Show. (Very upset that I lost some of the photos for this trip, including my Ninja photos 🙁
Interactive activities include visiting the O-Edo Tenmangu Shrine, where the golden statue of the learning god, Michizane Sugawara stands. You can write your wishes for academic excellence on little wood boards. We’ve already finished school so we wished for other things – health, career, happiness & $$. Not sure if this would work with the learning god but it was fun doing it!
Ninjas are legendary during the Edo period. So you’ll see lots of Ninja-things at Edo Wonderland – Ninja schools, Ninja museum, Ninja practical training materials like house of illusion and Ninja maze.
We’ve proved ourselves that we are really not Ninja material, unable to find our way out from the maze!
The traditional shows are the best things you can enjoy at the park. Watch the Geisha dressed in delicate and spectacular kimono, walking in dedication and solemness with the procession.
Watch the Ninja show at the Grand Ninja Theater where the ninjas battle their opponents with agility, speed, illusions and cool ninja weapons.
Watch the Water Magic Show (or “Mizuge”), quite a comedy actually, featuring a young Japanese girl having the ability to control movement of water, turning it into a dazzling fountain show. See part of the Water Magic Show here on You Tube.
Watch the lantern show at the “Rygokuza Theater”, where the art of lights, shadows and the comical characters from the show will keep you entertained even if you don’t understand the Japanese narration.
We really had lots of fun at Edo Wonderland. I should go back there one day and see if my wooden wish at the O-Edo Tenmangu Shrine is still there. Hope you enjoy the photos below 🙂
Contact Info Edo Wonderland Official Website Address: 470-2 Karakura, Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, 321-2524 Japan Tel: 0288 77 1777 Opening Hours: Mar 20 – Nov 30, 9 am – 5pm. Dec 1 – Mar 19, 9.30am to 4pm. Closed on Wednesdays except certain public holidays. Entrance Fee Day Pass: 4500 yen for adults, 2300 for children. Entrance Fee Half Day Pass: 3900 yen for adults, 2000 for children.
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Comments
We love your pictures! Wish we could travel over there like that. It looks a lovely place – thank you for taking the photos!
Thanks for your compliment monkey and millie. Japan is a lovely place 🙂
Bwahahahaha you two look as fluffy as the dude in the padded dog costume.
it was freezing cold!! and it’s the park’s CAT mascot not dog! lol. So You’ve finally logged into wordpress after so long eh?
You might want to know that those women dressed in those kimono are not Geisha, but instead Oiran, back in the day they were high class “escorts” They were known as trend setters and dabbled in some arts (not as much as Maiko and Geisha) but the main part of their job was to have sex with their patrons (maiko and Geisha do no such thing) ^^
Well… I shouldn’t say they are oiran since oiran don’t exist any more, but they are actors portraying Oiran ^^
Wow thanks for your professional comment! Actually I sort of knew it’s Oiran but didn’t quite know the difference between oiran and geisha but I just used Geisha as I thought everyone would know what a geisha is.
No problem ^^ Do you mean you didn’t know the difference in the appearance or in their function? ^^ Oiran are quite a bit more flashy than Geisha and even more flashy than Maiko (Which is saying something as they are extremely flashy XD) The three look almost nothing alike, as I’m sure you can see as you’ve already read my blog post on the subject of Geisha and Maiko. ^^ I always love seeing Oiran as they don’t really exist any more and not many tourists dress up as them (As opposed to people dressing up as Maiko and Geisha) because their costumes are quite a bit more complicated. ^^
Didn’t quite know the difference in the appearance. but now I know! But it was still pretty exciting to see the (actress) Oiran !
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