Thursday, October 31
We had a light breakfast at a French bakery in the train station–just steps from our hotel–and jumped aboard a loop bus (Kanazawa has a great system of buses that run around the center of town, connecting all the most visited sites).
First stop was the Kenroku-en Garden, said to be one of the loveliest stroll gardens in Japan. This 29-acre garden sits across a bridge from the Kanazawa Castle Park, and was built as part of the castle complex in the Edo period. The name means “six attributes garden,” a reference to a seventeenth century Chinese book that describes the six attributes of the perfect strolling garden. Every tree, shrub, rock, and blade of grass has been chosen, sited and maintained to maximize the picturesque quality of every vista.
Charming tea houses sit alongside ponds large and small; the park is also noted for the beauty of its lanterns.
The lantern below is famous, with one of its feet planted in the water.
The garden was swarming with school groups from junior high and high schools, all in uniform. We encountered a particularly friendly group at one of the tea houses. Their teacher was enormously pleased when we complimented them on their English.
I was particularly taken with this “de Stijl” tatami room at one of the tea houses.
From the garden, we crossed a bridge and a huge moat and passed into the park of Kanazawa Castle. The castle itself is a reconstruction, but it gives a fine sense of the importance of the Maeda, the Daimyo or feudal lords that ruled a huge fiefdom.
The park around the castle is quite beautiful, with sweeping vistas that provide a nice contrast to the more intimate spaces in the garden.
From the castle park we hopped on the loop bus and got off at Omicho market, a huge warren of aisles running through the center of a city block. Kanazawa is reputed to have the best food in Japan, and sushi second only to Tokyo. The fish stalls certainly give that sense!
Vladimir had heard that the market was famous for its snow crab, and he was determined to have that for lunch. He went up to a crab seller and made gestures meaning “where can I buy this to eat now?” The friendly salesman drew him what we took to be a picture of a restaurant. We took our Pictogram upstairs, where a dozen seafood restaurants vied for the customer on the prowl for something fresh. We finally settled on a restaurant that looked like the picture. When we showed it to a waitress, though, she motioned us out of the restaurant and led us down the hall, around a corner, and to the door of another restaurant. This was not the first time a person went out of their way to actually lead us to where we wanted to go! As it turned out, what we took to be a picture was the name of the dish Vladimir wanted, and we were soon chowing down on big bowls of extraordinarily fresh seafood!
On the way to the museums we hoped to see, we passed by one of the former pleasure quarters. Unlike many areas of Japan under the shoguns, where the samurai lived on the land, the Maeda forced all their samurai to maintain a house in Kanazawa; and several lively areas of town sprang up to serve them. This was one of the nicer preserved neighborhoods that we had seen.
Vladimir had his eye on the Honda Museum, which specializes in samurai gear and other sharp objects; I wanted to visit the D.T. Suzuki Museum, and everyone decided that was the best choice. The museum is another small gem: devoted to the legacy of Suzuki (who grew up a few yards from the museum), probably the most influential figure in the spread of Zen to the west, the museum building is a study in Zen simplicity. There are very few exhibits, but those are focused and suggestive. The really memorable aspects, though, are the pool and garden behind it. One of the most perfectly proportioned spaces that I know.
I could probably have waited a week, hoping to get a shot free of other visitors. As we were to learn, though, young Japanese are obsessed with shooting their girlfriends in purportedly fashionable poses, and are willing to wait aeons for the right look.
It had been a long but fascinating day, but we had one more treat in store. The concierge at the hotel had found counter seats for us at a casual but excellent sushi restaurant, Tamazushi, in downtown Kanazawa. What a wonderful evening! The fish was unbelievably fresh and varied, and the two chefs behind the counter absolute delights.
As we emerged from the restaurant, we were reminded that it was Halloween!
We all agreed that Kanazawa should be on any visitor’s list!