Scenery 101: Kanazawa Special: Kenrokuen

One of the three best landscaped gardens in Japan, and often cited as the best of the three. This is Kenrokuen in Kanazawa.

Oldest fountain in Japan

A double stone lantern...because two is grander than one

Artistic photo of flowers growing along the river banks

Whilst the presence of this bonded stone may have been sufficient in ancient times to signify "Do not cross", this simple sign is currently reinforced by some steel barriers and written words in several languages which have not made it into this photo for artistic reasons.

Stone bridge, with running water beneath and lush greenery around.
Some call it design, others call it a failure to measure the width of the river correctly. 

Bridge, this time wooden, with running water beneath and lush greenery around.

Big tree

Summer isn't the best time to visit Kenrokuen as it only exudes green.  Rather, Kenrokuen is meant to be particularly beautiful in the winter when huge wooden structures are erected to protect the trees. I guess I'll have to go back again then.

Scenery 101: Kanazawa Special: Kanazawa Castle

Like most castles in Japan, Kanazawa castle is a sight to behold.
Like most castles in Japan, Kanazawa castle is also fake, sadly.

Japanese castles have a knack of burning down, no surprise given that they are typically made of wood.
So Kanazawa castle is a replica of the original, still currently undergoing reconstruction.

But as you can see, despite it being rather spotlessly clean, and smelling of fresh paint, it is absolutely majestic.

Food culture 101: Kanazawa Special: 海鮮丼 (kaisendon)

Kanazawa is a food lovers paradise, boasting of some of the best seafood in Japan.

For breakfast, our host at Guesthouse Namaste recommended an unassuming, but extremely popular, sushi bar in Omicho market. With only a counter that seats approximately 9 people, it had a cosy and welcoming feel, with a friendly chatty owner.

Two different days, two varieties of kaisendon. Both at a bargain of 700 yen (breakfast only).

Given the excellent quality of the seafood here, it was not a difficult decision to splash out an equal amount for two pieces of abalone nigiri. It's not everyday you see this on the menu, and definitely a first for me. The texture is the key, according to the owner. Firm, not rubbery, with a slight bite and a mild savoury palate. Scrumptious.

"Where does all this fresh seafood come from?" you might ponder.
Well, the sea, obviously.

Kanazawa is indeed located by the sea, and as for those living in town centre, Omicho market offers a daily variety of fresh seafood and vegetables to feed the masses. Of particular note are crabs, which are a speciality in this region, a point worth remembering as they will make an appearance in a blog entry to come.

Scenery 101: Kanazawa Special: Of traditional teahouses, electronic bus routes and rebuilt castles

Welcome to Kanazawa. 

The first thing that greets you (provided you came by bus or train) is this majestic wooden gate.

You will also see a very funky display. Yes, it shows the time. But it alternates between the time, date and some other stuff. If you look closely, the display itself is a fountain! How cool is that.

Electronically illustrated bus maps

Speaking of cool stuff, here's a bus map with an electronic display that actually illustrates where the bus is, and how long it will take for the bus to arrive at the current location. If only all bus maps could be like this.

Chaya district

A beautifully preserved part of town boasting traditional style buildings that have probably survived for centuries.

"Chaya" means "tea house", a place where guests would have tea. 

Not just any tea, mind you. 

This is tea, handpicked by little forest people once every full moon, dried under the solar eclipse, boiled with morning dew, and served in an age old tradition by little Japanese porcelain dolls.

This is not just tea, this is very expensive tea.

Needless to say, I did not have tea there.

I did, however, have charred bamboo ice-cream. How did it taste? Just like vanilla.

21st Century Museum

A collection of modern art pieces housed in an interestingly designed circular building. 

Funky colourful glass. Kept us entertained for minutes.

Amazing underwater pool. Check this out on youtube. It's more exciting there than it is in real life.

Culture 101: Sake brewery

This is a sake brewery.
It has been around for many centuries (according to the box label, 1690), making some really yummy stuff.

What I think I've learned from the tour is that:
1) The taste of sake is influenced by the type of rice used, how polished the rice is, and the water used. The more polished the rice is, the less remains of the rice (i.e. only the best bits of the rice remains), leading to a higher grade of sake.
2) Sake, unlike wine, is not aged. It is meant to be drunk as soon as purchased.
3) Sake is not meant to be aerated (i.e. do not slurp it like wine)

Anyway, this brewery's signature is a sake known as "Ieyasu".
How does it taste? Gorgeous. Buy it and try it for yourself.




















Now you might be thinking, why is this post in the "Culture 101" section of this blog?
As explained above, the quality of sake is largely influenced by the quality of the water used, and each brewery is rightly proud of its own water source.

So much so, there is typically a little fountain of water on display, such as this one located at the entrance to the brewery's shop.

What I have learned is that it is perfectly acceptable to drink this water.
What is probably not acceptable is to use the cup placed at the fountain as a drinking vassal. I found this out when my Japanese tour guide happily passed this cup around saying "You must try this, drink, drink", at which point the younger shop staff froze in terror as her more senior counterpart ran towards us with a few plastic cups in hand.

Culture 101: always ask the brewery staff before using the cup at the fountain.

Food culture 101: Fusion sushi

Being in Okazaki, one is rather starved of gastronomic experiences.
So it is with delight that I was taken to this restaurant around the Gamagori area by a local who frequents this restaurant.

A pretty selection of what could be described as Japanese fusion nigiri and maki, mixing typical Japanese ingredients into traditional sushi. Whilst not generally being a fan of rather limp sweet prawns that graces many a sushi bar, of particular note was the sweet prawns in this place. Aside from being the most plump I've ever encountered, they had a slight crunch that made it a real pleasure to savour. And how can you fault a whole crab claw on a nigiri.

I hear winter is a great time for seafood there, so it seems good things do come with the cold.

Culture 101: Lesson 2 - Pottery

Pottery.
The use of clay, like this:

To make a variety of stuff, like this:

After about an hour and a half on the potter's wheel learning the delicate art of clay shaping, I managed to shape two bowl like things which should eventually become my rice bowl and a dipping bowl for sauces.

It takes approximately a month from the shaping of the clay to the completion of the product, so that means I should be getting some crockery any time now.



Tokoname, a well known pottery town from as long as the 12th centiry, is one of the historic pottery towns of Japan (and apparently the largest and oldest of all). It is here that my pottery adventure began.

A walk around the town reveals much of the town's links to its pottery ancestry.

Some old looking building. Must have some historic significance.

Wall lined with used sake containers

And another one. Must be an ancient form of recycling.

Decorative pottery in a park. 

Kilns used for decoration

 as well as baking bread for the nearby bakery

Clay frogs on the roof

And a huge cat head that, again, serves no other purpose than luring tourists to take photos.

Pity it is rather tedious to get to from Okazaki.