Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
undefined
undefined

Golden Week 1999: Trip to Kanazawa

Here comes the revered Golden Week! Alas, one of the busiest weeks for traveling in Japan, we planned to go visiting the home stay family of Gilles Rey-mermet at Kanazawa. This is where he studied Japanese for three months before coming to work for Aisin Seiki and thus, we count on him to be the perfect sightseeing guide for the Japan sea region (Nihonkai). We will be traveling in a minivan owned by a good Canadian friend Eric Marcil and his wife, Kumie. Their 6-month baby, whose name is Marika, accompanies us and conformably, we are ready for the Japanese overcrowded highways.

DAY 1: Welcome to bric-a-brac

We plan to arrive to Echizen (nearby Fukui) in the evening of the first day. Crossing the Nagoya region, the jammed area turned out to be on the seashore of the Wakasa bay. This is the first day of our holidays. Hence, we are patient and the view of the sea is relaxing. We reach our destination in the early evening. We drove 200 kilometers in approximately 8 hours... We booked very traditional Japanese inns for our trip and this first one is amusing. Packed with bric-a-brac of domestic accessories, antiquated appliances and posters of erotic ladies in bikini promoting the Echizen beach haven. The supper is also totally startling with a huge crab (painstaking to eat though), salt grilled fish and two dark squids. A tour at a nearby sentoh (public hot water bath) and the massaging chair eliminates the last bit of stress left. Colorful sunset on Echizen

DAY 2: A long expected rendezvous

Continuing to follow the seashore, we drop by towering rock columns and cliffs at Tojimbo, which is a popular tourist destination. My first thought was that the Japanese locals have been very quick to profit from the sightseeing spot by implanting a kilometer-long souvenir path that leads to the geological fault area. The dangerous cliffs are impressing but the seemingly unawareness of the falling danger is also appalling. There is absolutely nothing to prevent a 20 meters plunge right in the breaker wave! Watch out for falling cliff

The middle of the afternoon offers a blue sky in Kanazawa (a rare thing according to Gilles who saw mostly gray clouds during his stay). The downtown offers the visitor a nice blend of cultural/historical sights. The walking tour, which borders a beautifully well-maintained river and wanders in Nagamachifs old neighborhood of narrow back streets with temples and samurai houses is charming. In the more sightseeing areas, high-class souvenir shops sell immaculate and very expensive lacquerware since it is a very complicated process to harden wood and make it extraordinarily durable. A simple plate can cost up to 30000yens! Need less to say that these souvenir shops can be visited almost like a museum.

Gilles meet his home-stay parents for the first time since he left last year and they are happily surprised at his improved Japanese speaking abilities. But Marika also does not wait too long to get cheered by the gOkasanh (mom). I never experienced a home stay but I recognize that living with very open-minded and modest people like them can be extremely profitable. It is a joyful evening spent with the low tone voice of the gOtosanh (dad) proudly explaining us the ultimate sound superiority of his latest hi-fi stereo system with music from the Inca country. I am able to resist his favorite drink, the famous Suntory whiskey and go into bed almost feeling like home.

DAY 3: Six attributes for perfection

Supreme symbol of beauty Beautiful teahouse
The star attraction of Kanazawa is the Kenroku-en garden ranked as one of the three top Japanese gardens (the other two are Kairaku-en in Mito and Koraku-en in Okayama). The name of the garden (Kenroku translated as gcombined sixh) refers to six attributes for perfection, including seclusion, spaciousness, artificiality, antiquity, abundant water and broad views. There are not so many gardens which combine all six, even in Japan (are you reading dad?), thus it was designated a protected National site. While its unique beauty changes with passing season, Gilles had the chance to photography it in summer and now in spring with leafy trees offering pleasing shades. Unfortunately, the crowd and particularly organized tours make intimacy and enjoyment, inherent to the first attribute, burdensome.

Tea house for tea ceremony The next stop is the delightful Gyokusen-en garden with more intimacy and less crowds than the Kenroku-en garden. The Japanese school where Gilles studied invited the students to a noble tea ceremony. The teahouse pertains all the elements for simplicity and tranquility distinctive of the tea ceremony (the head of the door is low to force any ranked man to bow while entering the main room).

Further walking brings us to the Myoryuji temple (or better known as Ninja-dera, house of Ninja) noted for its unique architecture in a fortress style, featuring an intricate arrangement of stairways, trick doors, concealed tunnels, secret chambers and a labyrinth of corridors that crisscross one another. Complicated interior layout has remained secret for more than 300 years during the reign of the Maeda samurai family. Up on the top of the main building is a lookout glazed on all the four sides where approaching enemy troops could have been seen miles away.

Dinner at a French restaurant proves that Japanese still do not understand the French etiquette of serving the main dish once the soup is finished but the juicy steak is delicious to forgive absolutely... The Japanese parents are tired because they played with Marika all day long while we were visiting.

DAY 4: A tulip for Marika

In the Toyama prefecture, Kumie wants to go visit the Tulip fair in the city of Toyama. Just getting off of the highway is difficult and we must park at 20 minutes by walk for the attraction. It is crowded for yet another garden in so few days. It is big and colorful, thus the ideal place to take picture of your kids as long as they are not crying and nobody passes in the background. This task is difficult but Gilles is a photograph master and get some nice snapshots of Marika while I make her laugh.

I know what tulipes are. Just happen to be margerites...

From here to Nagoya, we will cut through the Japanese Alps into the Shokawa valley region in the Gifu prefecture. The remoteness and inaccessibility of the area is claimed to have attracted a few defeated samurais running away. In the present century, the construction of gigantic highway draw tourists interested in the unusual architecture of the remaining villages of Gassho and their remote mountain surroundings. There are a few villages that display the famous Gassho-zukuri architecture, seen in the steeply slanted straw-roofed homes. The sharply angled roofs were designed to prevent heavy snow accumulation (a bit like the typical Canadian house). Feudal lords of Kanazawa also used the isolated location for the secretive production of gunpowder, which is displayed in one of the house.

It starts raining. The road is busy and we are scared to miss the dinner at our ryokan. Passed a stupid traffic light that literally jammed the area, we finally make it. The dinner is already served: delicious vegetables from mountain and nabe. They even have wasabi plant tasting like the paste but a lot fresher and sweeter.

Traditional gassho-zukuri in Gifu prefecture

DAY 5: Braving the rain

It is rainy again. Does a little trip to an ever overcrowded onsen will be the only we do today???

Of course not! We arrive to Gujyo hachiman in the middle of the afternoon. Gilles decides to go for a walk in spite of the pouring rain. Photography under rain can be surprisingly rewarding if one has the patience and the proper clothing. We climb the mountain topped by a nice four-story castle to take a few snapshots. Ouf! Back home, I read while drinking local sake. It is the holidays at last!

DAY 6: Discovering a folkloric village

The rain has stopped during the night and the blue-sky morning is exalting. After a few minutes of wandering in the street, I am glad we did not leave too quickly Gujyo hachiman. It is a wonderful little enchanting town that has managed to retain something of its traditional charm. Small water channels well decorated crossed by numerous stony bridges and a spectacular view of the castle on the mountain. There are many beautiful temples with Zen gardens. A nice village to take a break from the more urgent rhythms of larger urban centers. We hear that the main fame of the village is a dancing festival tradition where people dance frenetically during the four main days of the event all throughout the night in August (a very interesting idea for the Obon period!). We head home after lunch to avoid the last rush of the Golden Week, refreshed and peaceful.

Back to the main menu