Greetings. Konichiwa.
I have spent several days in the delightful city of Kanazawa. This city is known as “Little Kyoto”. Not having been to Kyoto (yet), I cannot offer an opinion on this. I can say, it is lovely.
Kanazawa, despite having shrines and temples to spare, is not a tourist mecca yet. This has both good and bad sides. The bad, very little in the way of tourist infrastructure. The good, far fewer tourists. So, should you add this city to your Japan list? ABSOLUTELY. Should you take a patience pill before you get here, also yes.
My good luck with weather has not followed me to Japan. I spent one day seeing sights in POURING rain and another in a steady drizzle. My USA umbrella gave up the ghost on day one here. Lucklily, every other shop sells umbrellas.
The most important sight of the city is the castle and neighboring gardens. The castle has burned down more times than I can mention here, so the one that exists today is a rebuid from the 20th century. It’s still beautiful and the builders did all they could to follow traditional techniques.
The sun finally came out later in the day.
Next to the castle are the Kenrokuen gardens. They are reputed to be one of only three “perfect” gardens in Japan. I have no idea what makes a garden “perfect” but they were lovely.
Near the castle and the gardens are numerous women (and the occasional man) in traditional dress. I never did figure out why or what they were doing, since I did not want to be THAT stupid tourist. I shared many a bus with women in traditional dress and near the gardens, two of them let me take their picture.
After the castle, the other big sight in Kanzawa is the Oyama Jinja Shrine. Like other big shrines or temples, the sight is both shrine and garden. This particular one was pretty spectacular.
I just loved these frogs. Can I have someone put them in my next house, wherever that may be?
After days touring shrines and gardens, it was time to take a break. I was lucky to be able to get a spot at a tea ceremony. One of the perks of being a solo traveler…you can often squeeze in to existing bookings.
The rituals and formality that surrounds the tradidional preparation of tea is something so foreign to Westerners in generals and Americans in particular. It was a real treat for this California girl to see something so sacred associated with what we consider to be a mere beverage.
It was very interesting to me that the tea in the ceremony is powdered. I asked why and our hostess said that was what was brought from China hundredes of year ago, so the tradition remains.
Kanawaza was a wonderful experience. As I write this, I wish I had taken photos of my favorite dinner spot.
I found this great little barbeque spot near my hotel run by a wonderful husband and wife team. While most of our communication was sherades, we were able to get by. One evening (I ate there three times), I was stuggling with chopsticks and large pieces of vegetables. The owner offered me a fork, which I refused. We all laughed. Well, mostly they laughed at me and my attepts at large things with chopsticks. At the end, we all had fun and I loved them for their humor. I wish I had taken pictures. It didnt’ occur to me until later. Now, every place where I make a connection, I will try to take a picture.
My next stop is Hiroshima. Probably not as positive an experience, but too many people said I had to stop there. Hopefully, it will not depress me too much.