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With
the trip to Kanazawa we left the densely
populated pacific coast of the japanese
main island Honshu heading towards the Sea
of Japan.
Kanazawa
is the smallest city on our trip so
far.
We
arrived in the Ryokan (traditional
japanese style guest house) late in the
evening.
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We
were pleasantly surprised by the size of
our Tatami-room.
The
size of traditional japanese style rooms
is measured in Tatami mats (some 2 x 1
yards).
Our
room has the size of 19 mats !
When
we arrived fresh tea was served and the
futon beds had also been already
made.
So
everything was ready for us to get out our
notebook and start doing the report for
you.
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In
the morning we had planned to visit the
much reclaimed Kenroku-en gardens at
sunrise in its full beauty.
As
you can see on the photo (umbrellas !)
this plan unfortunately didn`t work out at
all.
Still
we had to pay the full admission, no
`early bird rain discount` was
available
A
positive side-effect though was the fact
that temperatures dropped below 85 degrees
F for the first time during our trip so
far.
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The
Kenroku-en park supposably belongs to the
most beautiful japanese gardens. It is
definitely very nice and well
maintained.
For
nature loving westerners however the
precision and artificial tidyness of this
kind of parks might be a bit
disturbing.
Whereas
the West proclaims the `back to nature`
movement, the japanese landscape gardeners
define and enforce precisely how big
nature has to grow and what shape each and
every plant should have.
We
had the feeling as if no fallen leaf would
remain on the ground for more than two
hours before one of the caring workers
would dispose it elsewhere.
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Then
pure curiosity led us to the
`Myoryuji-temple` also known as
`Ninja-Dera`.
We
had to make reservations an hour in
advance by phone - even increasing the
suspense.
Finally
we arrived, our names were checked on the
guest list and upon verification we were
granted access to the main
hall.
The
ever present `take-off-your shoes` ritual
starts to get annoying and makes us think
about wearing slippers next times. Now we
know why so many Japanese wear slippers in
daily life.
Lots
of rules greeted us when we entered the
temple. No photos, no talking, careful
walking and respectful behavior, please
!
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Finally
we kneed down in front of the
altar.
Now
a voice explained in details (but in
japanese) the history of the temple. After
this appr. 5 min. long presentation the
tour started.
Is
was then that they told us that we would
not see a Ninja fighting presentation. The
name Ninja came to be associated with this
temple only because the monks had created
a very impressive maze of walkways,
staircases and traps.
At
the time temples were only allowed to have
2 stories. Higher buildings were a
privilege of the Shogun. The clever monks
made their temple appear to follow this
rule but inside there were 7 floors !
This temple really impressed us. The
`Oohs` and Aahs` wouldn`t stop. A definite
`must visit` when in Kanazawa, even
without a Ninja show.
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For
500 Yen we bought the day pass for the
local bus which allowed us to get a good
overview of the city during the 45 minute
round trip.
We
also discovered the historical part of the
city where Geishas are supposed to live.
(Unfortunately we did not get to see
any.)
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In
this part of the city many very old shops
can be found, one of them being this
sake-shop of Ms Akiyama.
Our
attention was drawn to the large wooden
chest in the center of her shop. It turned
out to be an almost 50 year old
fridge.
We
were very astonished to learn that it is
still used for cooling beer
today.
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Ms
Akiyama also uses a wooden abacus in her
daily business.
Adding
up our purchases went almost as fast as
the bar code reading in German
supermarkets.
Overall
we really enjoyed our stay in Kanazawa
greatly due to the hospitality and big
support we received from
Satomi.
We
are looking forward to her visit in
Hamburg in December.
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Our
daily special:
`The
Puzzler` (Are you a Japan
expert?)
New
impressions and curiosities as a daily Q
& A.
3)
What is the object on the photo
?
(Answer:
just click on the photo)
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