I went downstairs for breakfast and their selection was fantastic. They had a large side of western food and a large side of Japanese food. I only saw chopsticks but I am used to eating with them by now. I later found an area with forks, but I just stuck with the chopsticks. There was incredible french toast, but no maple syrup. Instead, they offered chocolate sauce. That works for me! I had a noodle and vegetable Japanese dish, along with a few meatballs. Meatballs for breakfast is new to me.
Every time you walk anywhere even remotely near the front desk, they greet you in unison. I now walk at the opposite end of the front hall when I go towards the elevators... This is similar to how I have found that shopworkers all greet you simultaneously and constantly. When you get past how much different this custom is, it is actually kind of nice. It is only neat though because they follow this up with actually leaving you alone in the store to look by yourself in peace. This is a stark contrast to how shops were in Vietnam. We found ourselves avoiding going near many stores because of how bothersome they were.
After breakfast, I went back to my room. I was still exhausted. I really had to push myself to leave my room for my 9:00 meeting with my first of three guides that I'll be meeting in Japan. Like my next 2 appointments, this was four hours long. I had looked at the highlights of town the night before, and what she showed me as a rough itinerary looked fine to me. I told her to lead the way, which seemed to slightly surprise her. She is the expert, not me... Plus, it is nice to have someone else be the lead without me having to worry about any logistics.
She is a mother of three of an age that I assume to be near my parents' age. She was very nice with a very decent command of the English language. She grew up nearby and used to go to college on the castle grounds that we would be visiting later in the day. Apparently, it was used as a college and then torn down to focus on keeping it as a historical site.
Our first destination was the Higashi Chaya District, an old part of town with historical buildings.
We went to an official house of a geisha, the Shima House. I only had heard the term in passing and knew very little about them. I was told that they were women of poor families who were trained to play music, dance, and otherwise entertain people. They sometimes married wealthy merchants which brought them to higher status in the caste system. They also often performed sexual entertainment. As they got older, they would sometimes close a screen between them and a client and would sing or play instruments from the other side.
Inside the entrance was a small shrine, often to worship ancestors and local deities.
This was one instrument they played:
There was a small garden in the middle of the building, marked with a small rock tied with rope, to indicate that the area was not to be walked on.
One display case showed off rectangular coins which were once used as currency.
I wanted a drink of water and she directed me to a vending machine sitting outside of one of the buildings. It was at this point in the trip that I started noticing that vending machines are outside all over the city.
Next, we stopped at a few shops which made and sold items with gold leaf. I was given an explanation and shown how they are used at a local shop. It involved taking gold and crushing it, to expand it. Kanazawa produces the thinnest in the world. I watched a woman cut out squares, removing the excess, and using small tools to patch up any imperfections. It is used in handicrafts and small pieces are even sprinkled on ice cream cones in a nearby shop. My guide explained that this was for good luck. No thanks!
Our next stop was Kenroku-en, considered one of the three most beautiful gardens of Japan. I was shown the main goals in the creation of the garden, by my guide. She noted that some of these goals contradicted each other and so the challenge is in finding a balance.
This shot was of an artificially created waterfall, which has been modified multiple times in order to modify the sound and look for those viewing it during a tea ceremony in a nearby building.
We saw an old and completely natural water fountain. Pressure from nearby water is able to push the water to create a fountain.
There was a 200 year old tree that had its branches supported by wooden beams.
Nearby, workers meticulously combed the moss for growths of grass.
Here is turtle island:
And some other shots from the garden:
Near the garden are the remains of Kanazawa Castle. Much of it was restored, but three buildings remained as the original. I was told that much of the castle was burned down in a fire. After the fire, they worked to reroute two local rivers to create canals that you could see throughout town.
We ventured toward the samurai district. The guide informed me that being a samurai did not often produce enough income, so they sometimes did side work, such as constructing shoes.
She dropped me off at a small samurai residence, Samurai Nomura House, as our four hours were up. The house was small, but had some interesting artifacts.
Afterwards, I went back to the hotel to relax a bit. At around 3:00, I was interested in lunch. A google search revealed that most restaurants were not to reopen until 5:00. There was an Italian place open, so Italian it was. It ended up being on the fourth floor of a small mall. The food was quite good. While walking over to fill up my cup with water from the drink dispensers, I was asked by a man if I was American.
He was from Alabama, visiting his daughter, who was in Japan to teach English. He chatted me up for a while. He let me return to my seat when he saw food had been delivered. I was given a check as my food was delivered. I left $2 on the table and went to the cash register to pay my bill. A waitress ran over to me with my coins, trying to return it. I said, "No, no, this is for the tip." She said, "No no." After going back and forth a few times, I had to accept it back.
As I was walking out, I ran into the Alabaman couple. I related my tip experience and they informed me that their daughter explained that tipping was not accepted in Japan. He continued that he was surprised to see that a bus driver was wearing white gloves. He said that they go to school for bus driving, receive continuing education, and take pride in having their job. He then bemoaned taxes as a fellow self employed worker. After a while, they released me. It seems like I am being picked up on some cosmic radar as being a solo traveler and people can't resist talking to me. Perhaps I should practice walking around with a grimace or with a churlish expression.
While I am getting quite tired of museums, the contemporary art museum is right nearby and seems highly recommended. I saw this beautiful canal on the way.
I was disappointed that there was a no photo policy in the museum. Also, a whole section was down, due to be reopened in two days, when I will no longer be here. In any case, I am stuck describing what I saw. There were, of course, plenty of pretentious garbage pieces of "art," as in any other modern art museum. Some notable pieces were some leaning or contorted dice towers, mounted on spinning plates. There was a room with art canvases along an entirety of a lengthy horizontal wall. There was a dark room that had projected moving images on all four walls involving squigly lines and shapes. There was a 4 sided rounded ping pong table with an empty square in the center, filled with plants. Finally, there was a swimming pool. Glancing down into the pool showed that at the bottom, on one side, was an archway/doorway into a neighboring room. The closed off portion of the museum is on this bottom level.
Near the exit was two small gift shops, arranged in the inside of two circles. These were filled with unique creations and almost inventions that was all over the place. It was incredibly unique and the place was worth a visit just for these alone!
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