Kanazawa Day two

Breakfast was a buffet feast on the top floor overlooking the city and palace gardens. We waddled out and it was a good thing we had a walking day. We started at the Shogun's castle garden one of the three best gardens in Japan. We have noticed the pines have had large centre posts with big ropes tied to them, often not very attractively. In this garden they are so symmetrical they create a beauty of their own. They tie up the branches in the fall so they won't be broken by the snow and then take them down in the spring. Huge amount of work. There were also gardeners in the water sweeping clean the rocks under water and picking out the falling leaves. 

We walked around the walls of the palace to the fish market and had a sushi lunch at a diner type bar with a conveyor belt for food and underneath one for dishes . It was the best, freshest sushi ever.  We were the only westerners.

We were on our own after that. Liza and I went exploring and found the Noh museum. Part of the experience was that the staff would dress us up in costumes and masks to give us a feel of how the actors fell and can see to move around. Very much fun. Then went to Museum of Contemporary Art to see installations from artists from around the world. Took a long time to see it all and we came out with sore backs and feet. Met up with Ruth and Alger and took a break in a lovely tea shop over looking the gallery garden. We walked back in the dark, Christmas lights and decorations up everywhere. To finish off the evening we had a wonderful French dinner at the top of the hotel. Service was slow and our talk long making for a great evening. 

Kanazawa Day One

Another's great day, is there no end to it?  We got up early to go to one of the most authentic markets still left. I got persimmons and presents from lovely ladies who took time to wrap them. I can't get over how kind and helpful everyone is to people who can't speak the language.  

Ted gave us another surprise stop   at an endless sand beach. We got ice cream and saw some creative sand sculptures. The most fun and unexpected part was about a 7 mile drive on the sand along the edge of the sea. There is a designated sand road with almost no cars on it much less a full size bus but it was fun and next best thing to having the time to walk it.  When we finished Ted and the bust driver got big claps.   

When we got into Kanasawa we went straight to the geisha district. The area isn't so interesting because all the windows are covered in thin slats for privacy,even when they are just restaurants. Lots of tourists and the only 'geishas' are young women dressed up as such, some with greater, more often lesser, success. They made it more fun for us. For 8 dollars I could get a soft ice cream cone covered in gold I opted for the 4.50 one with gold 
sprinkles. 

One role model

Or another

Everything was golden

Including our group

And the ice cream

n the next neighbourhood was the old Samurai district. We went to an original home, the best part of which was the garden. The city looks very clean, well cared for and prosperous. We walked back to our hotel past every international high end store. Our hotel is nice accessible to lots of things but not as high end as some of the stores leading up to it. We had one of the best, highest quality dinners since we got her and that finished a long and satisfying day.

The Samurai House

Wajima and Noto Penninsula

I'm getting so far behind on my posts with limited internet access we are socializing in the lobby in the evenings. Will try to catch up.

It was a good day inspite of unexpected changes in schedule. We visited two private lacquer galleries one that had a hutch like piece for 750,000 dollars. I would have bought the chopsticks for 7.50 but our taxi came to take us to the Float museum.  It is in a new building, dramatic and modern yet holds such traditional symbols.  The festivals are one of the few times that Japanese men are allowed to let loose and be dramatically different from their usual selves.

From there we took a spectacular trip along the sea coast to the rice fields that were terraced into the cliffs by students and also maintained by them. Each terrace is outlined with solar powered led lights and at night make beautiful changing patterns. It wasn't the best time of year for pictures but still beautiful.  We headed back down the coast, stopped for ice cream and a walk to a waterfall and caves then

The Japanese have such a sense of aesthics even their road construction signs are colourful, stylish and color coordinate with the equipment. 

The Hawke was posing for us, well searching for his next mea outside the Float Museum

The Float Museum displaying the floats carried by up to s70 men during festival

For a change of pace from our friend above we met the most holy of Shinto Priests who invited us in told us a little about Shinto and his town then gave us a beautiful kind blessing. He just lived kindness.

A family were getting a blessing for their daughters and when they came out were willing to face our gauntlet of cameras. The little one seemed to enjoy herself. 

Wajima on the Sea of Japan

Here I am looking out on the Sea of Japan, in my kimono, in my tatami room, having been to the world heritage village, Shirakawa-go, ate two wonderful Japanese meals and just finished watching the masked drummers.  About as good as it gets.  

The day started early with me going out to see if I could get better images in the morning light and without a lot of people.  I got lost, got my pictures and found my way back just before we loaded up and headed to Shirakwa-go. It is an example of how a remote village in the mountains, without resources could thrive first by cultivating mulberry trees and silk worms.  People still live and work there.  We had a couple of great hours before the tour buses swarmed in. There was still more to see but after a beautiful lunch in a very old restaurant we headed out. I didn’t mind because it was getting too crowded to photograph and it lost it’s ancient feel with the crowds. 

It was another tunnel trip, one after the other with glimpses of the mountain valleys in between. One tunnel is 11 kilometers long.  The amount of blasting, cement pouring and labour that went into building these boggles my mind. We finally came out on the coast and followed up to Wajima.  Our hotel is right on the ocean and a couple of us went for a walk along the sea wall.  It was dark and windy, the waves were splashing up over the wall and it felt good to be out there after a long bus ride.

We had another wonderful meal, cooking on our own burners.  Afterwards we visited in the lobby before we went to see the masked drummers dance and beat out a story of the evil spirits of the sea. We sat on a cross between a church bench and a sofa and others directly on the tatami floor. It felt like we were at a pajama party, all dressed in hotel kimonos.  We were the only white group at a very Japanese entertainment event.

One of the guys read me what he wrote about our day.  It was lovely, I realize my writing is so pedestrian, nothing poetic. In this land of Basho I am embarrassed. I will try harder to be less ‘stream of consciousness’ over the next week.

Shirakwa-go

The sacred trees and our intrepid lecturer Beatrice B

Not happy about the invasion

Here come the tour buses, of course we didn't come on a bus ;-)

Just one of many dams along the valley

The Sea of Japan

A great way to walk off the trip

I love my tatami rooom