Finishing up Kanazawa and on to Kyoto - Oct 15

This morning involves a three hour city tour of Kanazawa.  After that we head to Kyoto on the Shinkansen train system. It’s an early start of 8:00 so we have an early breakfast and check out before meeting with our guide.  

We walk through the bus station on our way to the subway.  This East Square concourse has a huge glass and steel atrium roof which provides cover from sun and rain.  It’s hard describe the magnitude of this area.  It feels like a spacious open air plaza with the roof maybe 7 stories above you.  

Front grand entranceway into the covered section.  This part of the structure is lit up at night providing a very impressive display.

Backside of the entrance.   The steel and glass cover stretches to Kanazawa Station building which is far behind me as I take this picture.

We all head to Kenroku-en garden by subway.  Kenroku-en means garden that combines six attributes.  There is a belief that Japanese gardens should find the right balance among six attributes:  spaciousness and seclusion, artifice and antiquity, water courses and panoramas.  I’ll admit, I’m not a good judge of these things, but I can confirm Kenrokuen-en is a lovely garden.  It hold the status of being one of the top three gardens in all of Japan, which is a very lofty title if you think of how many marvellous gardens there are here.  It is an Edo era (1603-1868) garden cared for by the various Daiymo (Feudal Lords) that oversaw the area over this time.  The garden was founded by the 5th Lord Tsunanori Maeda on the Kanazawa Castle grounds and was a private garden until it was opened to the public in 1874.  There are several large ponds with small islands because it aligns with a legend that creating particular inviting spaces will entice a certain wizard with secret perpetual youth and longevity to live there.  

The garden is different from many other Edo era gardens because it is “strolling” style.  Unlike the “sit and view” style where you enjoy the landscape only from a certain spot like a temple or palace, the strolling style has large ponds, hills, cottages and tea houses arranged on spacious grounds, allowing you to walk through them.  

A lovely pond.  This is one of the ones that had an island in it.  

 

This pine tree which is known as Neagari-no-matsu, meaning “raised roots pine” has exposed roots that rise up to 2 meters above the ground.  The tree itself is about 15 meters tall.  It was planted by the 13th Lord, Maeda Nariyasu.  To get this effect, gardeners planted a young pine tree on top of a high mound of soil.  As the tree grew and its roots strengthened, they gradually removed layers of soils to expose the dramatic root structure to the air.   

The garden also housed a walled villa called Seison-Kanu Villa.  It is a beautiful residence built in 1863 by Maeda Nariyasu for his mother.  The villa is historically significant for several reasons including:

• It is the only surviving residence of a daimyo’s official wife or mother in Japan, making it an important piece of feudal architectural history
• There are two architectural styles incorporated into the building.  The ground floor is built in the formal warrior class reception style to receive official guests.  The second floor features striking colours that was pretty radical for the Edo period including ultramarine blue (from France) and Bengala Red  (from Bengal) and purple from mixing the two pigments.
• It has a garden viewing deck built with a cantilevered roof that completely lacks supporting pillars providing a completely unobstructed view of her private garden.

There were no photographs permitted inside.  The building is now a museum, holding well preserved personal effects of the Maeda clan.  

Front of Seison-Kanu Villa.  I really liked this house and thought it would be a great place to live until I remembered how much stuff I have.  

I took a picture from the second story of a gardener working in the private garden of the villa.  He was trimming young branch tips with a small pair of Japanese shears.  It would take me a month to finish this tree.  

We continue on through the gardens and come to the Shinto Kanazawa Shrine,  It was built in 1794 by Maeda Harunaga, the 11th Lord of the Kaga Domain.  The shrine is for Sugawara no Michigan’s, the Shinto deity of learning and academics.  Students frequently visit here to pray for academic success.  

At the shine we see a little girl going through the Shichi-Go-SAN ceremony which translates to “seven-five-three”.  It is a traditional rite of passage celebrating the growth and well being of young children. 

Families dress their children in formal kimonos or suits and visit a local Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple to receive a priest’s blessing and pray for health.  They receive Chitoseame (thousand year candy) which is long thin red and and white candies packaged in long bags which are usually decorated with cranes and turtles to symbolize longevity and good luck.  

This is the well where Kanazawa got its name.  It is a historic sacred well and today it is believed to bring good financial luck, prosperous business and academic success to those who visit.

According to the folklore, a peasant named Imohori Togoro, was washing wild yams in the then natural marshy spring that flowed here.  As he washed the mud off the yams, a large amount of gold dust filtered out.  The area was named Kanearai no sawa (gold washing marsh) and over time the name evolved to Kanazawa (marsh of gold).  

There were so many beautiful picture perfect spots as we strolled around the Gardens.  

Kotojitoro  Lantern and Nijibashi (Rainbow) Bridge.  The two legged lantern base is shaped like the bridges that support the strings of the Japanese koto zither instrument. One of the legs rests on shore while the other stands in the shallow water.  

The classic postcard view of Kenrokuen Gardens includes the bridge and lantern and the calm waters of the pond and surrounding maples and pines.  It doesn’t include the people, but there was no opportunity to get a picture without them.  There were long lines at either end of the bridge as only one can pass at a time.

The next site we saw was the restored Kanazawa Castle.  We crossed a large grassy field and approached the castle gates.

Ishikawa-mon Gate built in 1788.  These large doors are fortified by metal.  The attackers must get through the first gate and enter into a courtyard area that is surrounded by upper level attack posts that could rain down spears, arrows or rocks.  To get through the second gate the attackers need to turn a corner which would slow their advance.  The castle was never under attack so the defences were never tested.

The turrets of the gate are noted for their rhombus-shaped structure, including the pillars.  This demonstrates highly advanced design and craftsmanship.

Inside the gate there is major construction underway on the grounds.  The former Ni-no-maru Palace is being reconstructed using traditional wood construction techniques based on historical blueprints and documents and archaeological excavation results.  At the same time, the construction is being made to permit barrier free accessibility, seismic reinforcement, air conditioning and heating.  The Palace was the largest and most central administrative structure of the Kaga Domain, governed by the Maeda family.  At its peak, the palace spanned over 10,000 square meters with more than 60 rooms divided into three sections.  Phase 1, covering the public/ceremonial portions (Omotemuki) is underway and scheduled for completion in 2033.

Picture taken from the upper windows of the Sanjikken Nagaya storehouse looking back towards the main gates.  To the left is the construction site for the Palace reconstruction.  

Long storehouse style buildings served both as warehouses and defensive walls.  Their names were based on their length so Sanjikken Nagaya was 13 ken Row House.  

First floor.  The building is 5.3 meters wide and 48.2 meters long.  

2nd floor.  The far end has a turret area that has a third level.  

Kanazawa Castle is often called a museum of stone walls because it preserves a diverse collection of stonework style across multiple historical eras from the late 16th century Maeda Toshiie period from 1580 to the end of the Edo period in 1868.  

Thirty sections of the stonework experienced recent damage during the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.  Restoration is underway and you can take a visitor route to see recovered stones and observe the work in progress.  

We leave Kanazawa Castle by Nezumita-mon Gate and Bridge.  This links directly with Oyama Jinja Shrine and Gyokusen inmaru Garden area of the park.

 

The gate was originally built in the early 17th century and was destroyed by a fire in 1884.  It was restored in 2020 using historical records.  

Enshrined here are the Lords of the Maeda family, who helped shape the modern Kanazawa.  The shrine continues to represent the connection between the Maeda family and Kanazawa.  

The shrine is also a symbol of Kanazawa’s spirit.

By now we’re running a bit late because I have been spending too much time learning about Kanazawa’s history.  There is supposed to be a market tour, so we catch a taxi to take us to Omicho Market to check out the food vendors and all the other retailers there.

The first thing that happens is that our guide asks me if I want to try the King of white fish sashimi.  How could I say no?  Unfortunately Judith didn’t eat any of the sashimi. 

This is nodoguro also known as rosy sea bass.  It is often called the king of the Sea of Japan.

This was the best sashimi I have ever eaten.  Buttery texture, flavourful and oh so yummy.  

Uni gets a bad rap.  It’s best not to think about what it really is.  But this was by far the best uni I have tasted.  Creamy, kind of sweet with loads of umami.

Next up was deep fried pufferfish (Fugu) on a stick.  It seems that many takeout items end up skewered to a stick including this one. Pufferfish can only be prepared by licensed, highly trained chefs because the organs of a pufferfish contain a deadly neurotoxin with no known antidote.

Our pufferfish fillets are coated in potato starch and deep fried.  It was pretty tasty.  My theory is that most foods that are deep fried will taste pretty good.    

We finished up at the market and then returned to our hotel to collect our carry on bags.  We head for the train station to catch the Shinkansen train to Kyoto.  It’s an about a two hour trip with a connection at Tsuruga.  When we get to the Dhaka Yuma Kyoto Hotel it’s about 4 and we can check into our room right away.  Our luggage that we forwarded earlier the previous day was already waiting in our room.  I knew it had arrived in Kyoto that morning because I have a tracking device in mine and checked when we were touring Kanazawa Castle.   

Our room is small compared to the other places we’ve stayed.  

And the shower/toilet area has this clear glass window.  That’s Judith standing in the shower just before she lowers the privacy blinds.  

We only have an hour or so before we meet our first Kyoto guide for tonight’s tour.  It is a private tour to see two of the Geisha districts.   We learn about geisha history; that they are female entertainers.  They are often mistaken as prostitutes.   

We tour many narrow lanes.  Our guide points out tea houses where geishas meet their clients, training schools and even a house that a geisha lives in.  On one of the streets our guide stops us and continues her description of geisha life.  We are stopped in front of a training school and we see 3 geishas in two separate groups enter the doorway.  This is not guaranteed so we’re lucky to have seen them pass by us.  

We leave this Gion district and chart a path to the other Geisha district.

On the way we pass by the Kenninji Temple, a Buddhist Temple founded in 1202 by Eisai (or Yosai), the monk who introduced both Zen Buddhism and tea cultivation to Japan.  The temple is the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto.  

This is the North Gion geisha district.  We stopped in front of one of the training schools here, where there was a board listing all of the classes that had been scheduled.  There seemed to be many classes that maiko needed to take. 

There are 5 geisha districts in Kyoto and they distinctive paper lamps from the eaves to identify their neighbourhood. 

That was the end of the tour and Judith and I decided to take the 15 minute walk back to our hotel.  It was time for dinner and we were scouting for a restaurant to have some dinner.  Unfortunately the route we took back didn’t have any restaurants until the final street that our hotel was located on.  We passed by a noodle restaurant that showed some tempura.  We figured out Judith could eat tempura so we had some dinner.  The tempura that Judith ate didn’t affect her, so we have figured out at least one restaurant meal for her.  

Back to the hotel for a rest.