This is a New Year's limited-edition postcard you get when you spend over ¥3,000.
The moment I heard "postcard," I just had to have it and ended up buying a bunch. I'm already under the postcard curse.

The local specialty here is black eggs. Boiling them in the hot spring water turns their shells black. Inside, they're just regular boiled eggs, but it's said that eating one extends your life by seven years.

The topmost room of the castle is called the "tenshukaku."
It's surprisingly small. Maybe about the size of your living room.
Back then, there weren't any tall buildings, so you could probably see all the way to Lake Shinjiko.

The interior of the castle is simple.
However, the old wooden pillars are incredibly beautiful and have a wonderful atmosphere.
The castle stairs are very steep. Climbing them makes your legs ache, and going down is scary because you feel like you might slip and fall.

Though barely visible to visitors, this building is the most important part. The deity resides here.
It is a National Treasure of Japan.

Place a small orange on top of the kagami mochi. It's cute how there's an orange on top of Miffy's head too!

This is a Miffy stuffed animal shaped like a kagami mochi I found at the Miffy Shop.
It's novel to see a famous foreign character featured in a Japanese New Year-themed product.

I came across a very large and impressive pair of kadomatsu.
Kadomatsu come in sets of two and are placed on either side of the gate.