Nakijin Castle Cherry Blossom Festival

After we went to the Nago Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday, we headed north to the Nakijin Castle for their festival. We went last year too, but this year we timed it so the sun would be setting when we got there. In the evenings during the festival, the castle is lit up for an illumination festival. 

When we got there, the sun had almost completely set. 

As we walked up to the castle entrance, we saw a few guys and girls performing. They finished up as we got to them, but then I heard the girls start giggling and saying kawaii (cute). This happens all the time with Little Missy. It's got to be the hair. One of the men standing there offered to take our picture.

When you walk through the main castle gate/door, there is a long path with cherry blossom trees on each side. This path had small lights on each side, as well as larger lights illuminating the trees.

At the top of the stairs, there are a couple areas to check out, some with an awesome view of the East China Sea. From here you could see the castle walls and the trees lit up in different colors.

I was really loving my camera too.

When we headed back out, the kids wanted to see if the performers had started back up again. They were gone, but a couple dressed (I'm guessing) to resemble the king and queen of the time were there. Little Missy gasped, said the woman was so pretty and that she looked like Mulan. The same guy offered to take our picture again.

It was neat to see the castle all lit up. I haven't seen it done at any other castle on island. I've even heard it called romantic. It was well worth the extra drive up to see the castle at night.