We're still in Kanazawa, and after looking around the old Tsuruga-jo Castle and the Kenraku-en Park before, today we're going to see what else the city has to offer.
As mentioned earlier, Kanazawa has the reputation of a "little Kyoto", with many temples and old alleys, but also traditional arts and crafts. The former Saga province was quite well off financially, so that the Maeda clan, which was ruling here during the Edo period, could also devote itself to the fine arts.
This is visible in the city's gardens, such as Gyokusen'inmaru Park, which is part of the former castle complex and has been beautifully restored, inviting you to dream and stroll.
But also the Kenroku-en Park is a highlight, which you should not miss when coming to Kanazawa. The park is one of the "three famous parks" in Japan and exudes its very special charm at any time of the year.
Similar to Kyoto, downtown Kanazawa is crisscrossed by rivers, the Asona River offers a small oasis on its banks in this sometimes hectic city and invites even the hurried tourist for a short break.
Behind me, the traffic is buzzing, but in front of us there is this peaceful and relaxing scenery, and suddenly we are no longer in a hurry, and just lean against the bridge railing and let our eyes and souls wander a little. Kanazawa is not so badly located, it is only half an hour to the sea and also the mountains are not far away. And in addition you have a in big parts a very charming city with quite some highlights.
One of them is one of the old tea districts, the Higashi Chayagai. Chaya stands for tea houses, and here in this district some traditional stores have survived and outlasted the timesh. Of course, there is still tea to buy and drink, and some tea houses still offer traditional entertainment, but other stores have specialized in the tourists that now pass through here, and offer their very own and special products.
Like here in this building, which originally served as a warehouse for gold and golden products, and with this kind of past has become a very special point of attraction.
Large amounts of gold are not stored here anymore, of course, but gold is still the attraction here. This outer wall to the former warehouse is covered with a layer of gold foil, as you know showing off a bit has never hurt in sales. Kanazawa is still the center for Kanazawa-haku, gold paper or gold leaf, which in long processes is hammered into this thin form.
The "Golden Pavilion" in Kyoto was decorated with gold leaf from Kanazawa, and today 99% of Japan's production comes from this city.
But Kanazawa-haku is not only suitable for decoration, gold leaf from Kanazawa has also made it into food. This green tea cake has a thin layer of Kanazawa-haku on the outside, the actual gold content is of course minimal and therefore probably not harmful. I am not really sure what is the point nad purpose of this, but if you eat a lot of gold, it's your own fault anyway.
But apparently products with a little "gold flavor" seem to go quite well, souvenirs and gifts from vacations are a very important thing in Japan, and you can score even more with the folks at home, when you bring them some gold as a present.
Or how about a little gold liqueur? It surely looks gorgeous and stylish and will truly make a great appearance at the next reception or even just at a coffee party.
You can also just take home a small jar of gold flakes, so you can then season your own food. In the very thin gold leaf starch is wrapped and everything is filled in those glasse, which then look and shine nicely. The content is supposed to weigh only 0.08 grams, which I can hardly imagine. How thin and light must the individual flakes be, in order to in total only weigh that little?
But fortunately, you don't have to go along with everything, and can sometimes just let the others do as they please. So I just checked out what was going on there and then looked forward to the much tastier dinner coming up later.
Kanazawa was connected to the Schinkansen network only a few years ago and in this context the station was completely renovated and rebuilt. In front of the entrance now stands this imposing gate, which makes a bit of a statement.
People and cities are very similiar, both want to show off a little bit whenever possible, and they want their visitors to know right away that they are not just in some province somewhere in the country, but that right here is the place to be. But shine and reality are here in Kanazawa in a quite good and healthy balance. I've seen places which try to impresse and pretend at every corner but eventually had nothing to offer.
In the evening we went to the Oyama-jinja, a shrine, which somehow does not look so Japanese to me.
The first tori still appears in traditional form, but the following gate, the Shinmon resembles in form, color and presentation more like a Chinese pagoda.
At the main shrine, however, the visitors could see the usual Japanese architecture again and therefor during a short prayer they were allowed to send a little sigh to the sky.
Then inside the shrine was this mikoshi, a palanquin of the gods. On special occasions, a smaller shrine is carried through the streets by a usually cheerful group of people. A very interesting Japanese tradition, to which I will probably dedicate a separate article some other day.
That was our trip today to Kanazawa, a city I can only recommend to any future Japan tourist. Easy to reach from Tokyo, Kanazawa offers some nice highlights, starting with the former castle complex, over the beautiful Kenroku-en Park, to the tea and samurai quarters. And of course there is something delicious to eat everywhere to find as well.
I'll hopefully make it here again someday again, right now I have my pictures and I could refresh my memories a bit when making today's post.
Next time I will go out of the city, because there is also a lot to see in the countryside near Kanazawa. So please check back soon....
γΎγγ matane
[//]:# (!pinmapple 36.572653 lat 136.666783 long Kanazawa - Not Only Gardens But Also Some Gold πΉπ£π Fascinating Japan d3scr)