Next day we decided to have the day off. Diane’s knees were hurting and she did not want to walk far. I was quite happy to skip the day’s activities which included another temple, painting a fan, a tea ceremony and a meditation experience. Later, the group reported back that the last two never happened and the first two did not amount to anything worth getting out of bed for. We had the day to ourselves and it was wonderful. Did some washing, sorted some photographs, worked on the blog for a while. In the evening we found a lovely little Indian restaurant where we ate dahl with freshly cooked naan breads from a tandoor.
We needed to get up early for the train to Kanazawa. Kyoto station is modern building with an impressive lattice work roof and a lot of shiny glass. It was still terribly busy though. I was happy once we got settled onto the train for the two-hour trip. On arrival, a short coach trip brought us to the Kenroku-en garden. Another garden. Diane made it as far as the first set of benches before deciding to rest her knees. I pressed on. The name Kenroku-en means ‘having six features’. These are: spaciousness, tranquillity, artifice, antiquity, water sources and magnificent panoramas. I could kind of see how these qualities were there but it was difficult with all the crowds. Try achieving tranquillity when you need to queue to cross a bridge.
Before long the bustling crowds overwhelmed any sense of pleasure I was getting from the garden. Diane and I went off in search of coffee but eventually settled for beer and ice cream. Lunch was normally a great disappointment. We would arrive at somewhere that served some traditional Japanese dish. They would serve us what was left when meat and fish were removed from the dish. This usually ended up as plain white rice with a few vegetables. So, we were making a point of supplementing lunch. This was as much excuse as Diane needed for several ice creams a day. We also carried a bag of nibbles around with us. Nuts, fruit, biscuits and that sort of thing.
Garden done, we went to visit a pottery. This was really another carpet shop but more interesting than most. The guide threw a couple of pots for us and showed some nice skills. He showed us around a warehouse where the biscuit fired pots were kept. We had a look at some wood fired kilns. Of course, most of our time was given over to wandering around the remarkably over-priced shop.
Next stop was a street where some samurai used to live. Samurai were the professional warrior class and high-ranking social caste in pre-industrial Japan. For the best part of a thousand years, the samurai played a significant role in Japanese society. Nominally they were fighters, the strong-arms of the military government headed by the Shogun. However, their roles often extended to being civil administrators, bureaucrats, scholars, and moral guides. The samurai class and feudal system were officially disbanded following the Meiji Restoration in 1868 as Japan modernized into a centralized state. These were the decades when Japan learned from the rest of the world before, in 1895, they invaded Japan.
Despite this interesting background, which I looked up later, we were stood on a street wondering why. Walls lined both sides of the street and there was the occasional gate. Our guide was particularly lacking in any sort of explanation. We wandered a short way along the street, found nothing exciting and came back again. Some ten minutes later we were shown to the house of samurai and given tickets to go inside. As is the Japanese way, we needed to remove our shoes. The house was mostly empty. A small display cabinet displayed a set of samurai armour. It was exceedingly small. The samurai may have been fierce warriors but they appeared to be only four feet high. This was also reflected by the house which was clearly built for someone considerably smaller than me. We wandered around for a while. It was very crowded and there was little to see. The compact garden with a stream was quite nice.
Back outside, I spotted a knife shop on the other side of the road. This was much more interesting. Swordsmiths naturally arose alongside the samurai. Key weapons were the long katana sword and the shorter wakizashi. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the samurai were banned from carrying swords. Though a demand for military swords remained the majority of swordsmiths refocused their skill to cutlery production. Japanese kitchen knives are famous for their razor-sharp edges, hard steel construction, and lightweight precision. Unlike heavy Western knives, they are designed for clean slicing rather than rocking or chopping through hard bones. I have a set of three Japanese knives for cooking. They are complete pleasure to use. Incredibly sharp and they also hold their edge well. Very precise in use helped by handles that are designed to nestle comfortably in your right hand. The knife shop had a tremendous array of knives. Each one was a thing of precision. Hand made and lovingly finished. The huge racks of knives were completely open. There was nothing to stop you taking one out and handling it, however there was a sign suggesting that you should not let children play with the knives.
Next day began with some carving. We were each given a piece of wood which had been shaped with the basic form of a sake drinking cup. Our job was to finish it off. This was quite fun. I enjoy a bit of carving. It also felt a lot like being back a school. I could hear my old woodwork teacher telling me how to hold a chisel. After an hour we each presented our efforts. Naturally, there was quite a spread of skills on display. For those whose cup was capable, there was a shot of sake to drink from it. Like many of the activities on the itinerary, the carving felt a little like something we were doing to pass the time. There was no engagement. We were told truly little about carving in Japan, about the wood we were using or about the sake. It was not an unpleasant way to spend a few hours but we were learning precious little about Japan.
We went for lunch but walked out five minutes later to see what we could find in the shops. Mostly it was tourist tat but we did stumble across some peanut and toffee bars which were quite nice.
Next up, a short coach ride brought us to Shirakawa-go. A UNESCO-listed heritage village that is famous for its unusual architectural style known as Gassho-Zukuri (lit. hands in prayer). The steeply thatched roofs of these houses are tilted at a steep angle. This prevents heavy snow from accumulating in winter. It also creates spacious attics for silkworm cultivation. To get there, we first had to cross a suspension bridge from the coach parking area. This was massive. Space for scores of coaches. The houses are usually built from local cypress wood which makes everything very flammable. Notices everywhere warned of fire danger and discouraged smoking. As always, the crowds spoiled things for me. The village and the houses were quite nice but completely overrun by more than a thousand tourists. I estimated this from the number of coaches in the coach park. Now obviously we are tourists ourselves. What’s more we are being brought to tourist locations. So, I am tourist at a tourist spot complaining about tourists at tourist spots. It is all rather hypocritical. I know this but I am still going to do it.
The following day was dedicated to exploring Takayama on foot. Diane was still hobbling and not keen on this. We turned up at the starting point anyhow and got taken to a shopping street. Within an hour the whole group has instigated a mini diaspora. We got separated when we stopped, with Bruce an Anita, for a coffee. The others broke off in similarly small groups and as best I could determine, nobody stayed with our guide. We discovered a shop dedicated entirely to selling chopsticks. Anita bought some rather fetching sticks with chickens painted on them.
The days were slipping past rather uneventfully. The coach took us further north and through an area of mountain scenery. This was quite enjoyable but I could not bring myself to try and take photographs through the coach windows. Tried it before and it is a bit hopeless. Muck on the windows, reflections and the unpredictably changing scene make the chances of a worthwhile photograph almost zero. Much better just to relax and enjoy the views of mountains.
We arrived at a wasabi farm. Wasabi is difficult to grow. It is a pungent plant in the cabbage family and only grows naturally in the high mountain streams of Japan. Within Japan it is highly prized for its strong horseradish like flavour. The fresh rhizome is grated into a paste and eaten in small amounts at a time. Traditionally, coarse sharkskin is used to grate the root, but metal graters called oroshigane are used these days. Fresh wasabi paste loses its flavour quickly if left uncovered. The paste is grated on the spot in some high-end restaurants. Outside of Japan over 95% of the wasabi served is an inexpensive blend of European horseradish, dry mustard, cornstarch, and green food colouring.
This particular wasabi farm has, rather impressively, turned itself into a tourist attraction. Large swaths of wasabi grow along the rivers fed by fresh, cool mountain stream water. The plants are covered by plastic sheets to avoid damage from the hot sun. Along with the plants are shops, restaurants, statues, walks and a car park large enough for many coaches. What caught my attention was a couple of large kites that were wheeling around above the site. We had a very short, guided tour followed by free time. I enjoyed myself watching the kites and also spotted some sort of wagtail. We all met up for lunch which Diane and I found particularly pointless. I got to taste fresh wasabi which made the plain white rice very slightly interesting. Diane would not go anywhere near it.
We continued through the mountains and arrived at a monkey sanctuary. The Japanese macaque, also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species native to Japan. Colloquially, this macaque is referred to as the “snow monkey”, because some live in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year. No other non-human primate lives farther north, nor in a colder climate. In this particular sanctuary there is a natural hot spring. The monkeys live close to the water where they can keep warm in the winter. We needed to walk for half an hour or so up a shallow, wooded valley. This was lovely. Not too hot, not too crowded, walking through a forest in the mountains. The monkeys stay in a limited area near the hot springs so they are quite easy to find. In fact, they seem to have lost much of their fear of humans and for the most part completely ignored us. This proved to be one of more enjoyable activities we did in Japan. Just standing around in a beautiful location watching the monkeys getting on with their lives.
