Ueno Things to Do

Every year in late October, Iga Ueno hosts the Tenjin Festival, which is their danjiri festival (a traditional Japanese festival originally performed as a type of prayer for good harvests). During the rest of the year however, you can view the danjiri floats and learn about the festival at the Danjiri Museum!

In the museum you can watch a video that features not only the danjiri festival's history, but also other important parts of Iga Ueno's history. The highlight of the museum are the elaborate danjiri floats themselves, which are arranged in a recreated scene of the festival. There are also old demon masks dating back to the Edo Period (1600-1800s), which were used in the Demon Procession of the celebration. Children can collect stamps in the museum and if they get them all, they can receive a small present. You can also dress up in the festival outfits to take a picture for free.

The entry fee is 500 yen for adults and 300 yen for children.

Iga Ueno is the founding city of Ninjutsu, the ninja art of stealth, one of the two ninja schools. To keep the spirit of ninja alive, they have created a museum to educate visitors about the lives of ninja. There are three parts to the museum. First is the museum itself. Inside the museum, you can see ninja weapons, watch a video about ninja, see ninja outfits, and view other interesting things used by ninja, such as the special shoes they used to creep through moats to sneak into castles.

Another part of the museum is the small recreation of a ninja house. This house was built to show visitors the specially designed ninja homes. They will show you trap doors, secret spy areas, hidden compartments for weapons and special items and more. Children are encouraged to try to use the hidden passage like a ninja. In fact, it may be worth mentioning that the museum was made for children however, I think anyone interested in ninja will enjoy the ninja museum, and there are small English explanations, although it is easy to see what they are trying to show you!

Finally, there are demonstrations. These demonstrations will show you various weapons used by ninjas and they will then use them as a part of a performance. It's very fun, educational, and impressive! After the demonstration is over, for 200 yen, visitors can try their hands at using the shiriken (throwing stars). You get five throws for every 200 yen, and if you manage to hit the center of the target, you get a free ninja weapon toy set!

The museum entrance fee is 700 yen, and the show costs 200 yen (additional 200 yen if you choose to try throwing the shiriken after the show).