Kanazawa Day One

We caught the shinkansen by the skin of our teeth, as it was an early morning start. It was certainly a breathless way to start the trip, but I recommend not rolling around for twenty minutes after your alarm rings. Do pack some snacks though; munching sweatily on my food made me feel a lot better after we’d stopped panting!

The sunrise was lovely on the way out though!

We took the Shinkansen to Maibara, a lovely smooth ride, and then switched to the local express. Here’s a tiny tip for those looking to save money – get discounted tickets beforehand if possible, but even if not, leave the station and look for the ticket machines. They’ll only save you a few hundred yen, but you not only feel victorious after figuring out the kanji, but you can go and buy yourself an onigiri for your troubles. You can’t find the machines on google maps, but they’ll usually be close to the station entrance, tucked under an overhang or in a discreet corner.

Manned ticket booths

We reached Kanazawa station just before noon, and were entranced even before exiting the ticket gates. Kanazawa is one of the few places that still has ticketmen (perhaps also women?) manning the gates, and so we were ushered efficiently through the gates and into the very large, modern station.

Kanazawa station is a place to explore in itself, and we were treated to an “eki-con” – station concert, just opposite the track gates. A string quartet began to play a jaunty tune, accompanied by a lone man whose instrument seemed to be alternating between a whistle and a small train pipe. It later turned out that he played the French horn, but wouldn’t it have been great if he had been employed for that sole purpose?

Tootle tootle

An imposing sight

Outside the station, the massive gates, a modern take on the traditional Japanese tori, loomed large under a giant domed roof. At the end of the walkway, a fountain burbled “WELCOME”, “KANAZAWA” and the time of day. It was rather fascinating – a simple idea, but very effective – tourists all around us were caught frantically between. Which to snap a picture of first? Where to pose? The choice was daunting.

We wanted to set our bags down first, so we set off on the 30 minute walk to our accomadation. That took us through the heart of Kanazawa city, so we enjoyed coming across random art sculptures and observing the buildings and people around us. Our route took us through omi-cho, the local fish market, so we got to see the local businesses hawking their wares. It all looked incredibly fresh, for ridiculously low prices. Much of the shellfish was still alive, crabs with claws tied together, shrimps still swimming around in their tanks.

Artwork on the street

The mama-san at Minshuku Ginmatsu was a tiny smiley lady. She speaks a little English, and makes herself understood quite loudly and clearly, and we met both local and overseas guests, so it’s evidently a well-known and international place. Our rooms were about 2,000 yen per night per person, with a decent amount of space once the futons were rolled away – perhaps a five or six mat tatami room.

Once we’d settled in, popped the bags down and unpacked, we walked out to the Higashi Chaya district, which essentially means South Tea Area. Many of the buildings are faithfully restored, as their tight-knit structure meant that any fires rampaged through the town and destroyed many a building. We wandered through the small alleyways to get to the main square, where there was a wedding taking place – the bride resplendent in a white kimono, and men sleekly poised in grey suits. Higashi Chaya is the only one of its type to be named a cultural asset, as it’s particularly well maintained and historical.

A wedding in progress

Waiting on ice cream

All about higashi chaya

Traditionally, tea districts are a place of entertainment, filled with geisha and music. Most of the buildings have been converted into shops selling all manner of things – traditional pottery, chopsticks, golden beauty products, and many shops had little plaques relating the history of their buildings – what it had been used for in the past, how many times it had burned down and been rebuilt – that sort of thing. I really liked the old-time vibe of the area. It wasn’t quaint – it was absolutely bustling with tourists and business, but it had certainly preserved a historical feel for visitors to appreciate. We saw posters for geisha shows on the weekends, too, but since I am fortunate enough to have the same opportunity around my own area, we skipped it for sights harder to find back in our prefecture.

Golden buildings

Since Kanazawa is largely renowned for gold-leaf production, that was incorporated into almost every shop. One even sold a face mask of gold (for a cool ¥5000) and we could get gold leaf ice-cream too. I tried some coffee with gold leaf, but wasn’t overfond of it. Gold leaf has no flavour apart from extravagance, and it was a fun gimmick, but certainly not something I’d go out of my way to get. Still, Kanazawa managed to put it everywhere!

We wandered in and out of various shops and snapped a good amount of photos. Once we’d explored what the place had to offer, we followed signs towards a museum that turned out to be the Sakuda Gold and Silver Leaf Museum. Although we hadn’t made a reservation, there was space for us to try our hand at crafting some gold leaf products! There were a variety of things to choose from – small lacquer boxes, chopsticks, pendants and the like. The cheapest and least time-consuming option were the chopsticks (¥800), so we chose that. The workshop leaders didn’t speak any English, but showed us the process, then let us at it! We had a bouquet of chopsticks to gain inspiration from, and A-Sharp went for a cool striped design, whereas I tried my hand at a wonky “Kanazawa” and “2015” in kanji. I am now well aware that my dates are wrong, but nevermind.

Craft tools

Sample chopsticks

Making our designs

Brushing on gold leaf

It was getting dark by the time we finished with our golden leaf adventures, so we headed back towards omicho market for dinner. All the stalls were closed up, but the restaurants were bustling. We threaded our way through the damp cobbles and randomly chose a restaurant tucked into the corner of an alley after seeing a pair of salarymen stagger ahead of us. They were completely right – we were lucky to snag one of the last free tables. Not ten minutes after we’d entered, a queue of hungry customers began to grow. However, we gleefully sipped our cups of roasted rice tea and looked at the menu. We decided to share a sashimi and rice platter, topped with everything! You could either choose a combo, or go for everything, and of course, what’s a hungry girl to do but choose the most extravagant? Omicho has fantastic seafood and I wasn’t about to miss out on the opportunity to try it out!

Nor do I regret the choice – it was absolutely delicious. And, of course, it being Kanazawa, they sprinkled a little gold leaf on top. I bet organ donations in Kanazawa are worth more money… my villi were probably lined with gold leaf! I was King Midas on the inside (except hopefully less foolish)!

We finished the day with a coffee at Starbucks. I have no way to defend myself except to say that Starbucks represents holidays to me – they don’t exist out where I live, and its genuinely become a treat for me!

Just chillin' with ojipan

The only thing I would add to this first day timetable, if you’re looking for suggestions, is the confectionery museum. I did a little trip research beforehand, but we weren’t going by any solid timetable, so it slipped our minds. Kanazawa is also known for its sweet making, so it’s definitely something to keep in mind!

Hokkaido

So at the two tips of Japan, we have Hokkaido in the North, and Okinawa in the South. Now, as someone who definitely doesn’t like the cold, and has been to Hokkaido before, you’d think I’d say “hey, let’s go to Okinawa for a winter holiday! It will be warm” That, at least, would be the logical thing to do. But I defy logic. I like to stomp all over it. And then, it stomps all over me.

A group of fellow gaikokujin and I all got together and decided to go to the Snow Festival, a famous yearly event in Hokkaido. Hokkaido is hidden under a few meters of snow every winter, so at the end of the year, they gather up as much snow as possible, shovel it into a few parks, and make it into ice sculptures! When I visited last year around December, it wasn’t quite the season, so all we saw was piles of snow, waiting to be transformed. This month, February, was perfect.

The plane journey from Haneda airport in Tokyo only took an hour, so we arrived in the early afternoon. Rather than staying in a hotel, we opted to go with airbnb, which is like a paid version of couchsurfer. Essentially, people living in the area open up their houses as and when they have the time/space/inclination. Airbnb puts visitors directly in touch with the homeowners, who then decide whether they want to take you in or not. Fortunately, Mr. Sangun decided that we seemed a trustworthy bunch, and eleven of us trooped into his house. It was set up rather like a B&B; a simple breakfast was provided – nothing exceptional, though we did get nabe on the last day!

It was quite centrally located, so after checking in, we quickly headed out to one of the main parks, Odori. There were some magnificent sculptures of all shapes and sizes. There were four or five main, gigantically sized buildings – an Indian Palace, a grand mosaic dedicated to the Sochi Olympics. There was even a (possibly life-sized) replica of the Malaysian parliament! Of course, no Japanese matsuri is complete without the food stalls, and so, next to the sculpture was a dedicated stall to Malaysian food! There were a few bona-fide Malaysians in there, churning out satay, teh tarik and other quintessential Malaysian delicacies. I didn’t give them a try as I was already loaded up on seafood and miso soup, but it was a surprising and fun reminder of my childhood.

The sculptures were absolutely fantastic, but even with a number of pocket warmers I was absolutely freezing, so every so often, we’d pop inside the nearest combini to warm our frozen limbs back to life. There were some repeated themes – Funashi, a really popular mascot, and anpan man, the mascot for a particular brand of bread. We trudged along the entire street and back to ensure that we didn’t miss anything. It was all very cool (perhaps around -5 or so, to be precise…)

We certainly appreciated a nice hot dinner afterwards