The many sides of Kanazawa

As a small city of around 500,000, Kanazawa certainly packs it in. There’s the castle and the gardens - as seen yesterday, but there’s also a Shogun district and at least two geisha districts as well as an excellent museum of contemporary art and a whole host of handicraft making, possibly the most famous being gold leaf.  So we’ve quite a bit to pack in today! 

 First we explore the samurai district - one of the three best preserved such areas in the country. Wealthy samurai were allowed to build substantial mansions with high walls. Some here are open to visitors - though sadly not today - so it’s a case of wandering around the mysterious streets, the thick walls lined with straw or rushes glowing warm in the winter sun. At one point we catch sight of a parasol-holding couple in traditional dress, then two kimono clad women with a similarly dressed child - in both cases they’re involved in photoshoots, seemingly a popular pastime. 

Then it’s on to the first geisha district where we decide it’s time for a rest. One very stylish establishment specialising in Japanese sweets has an upstairs cafe serving the most beautiful drinks and ice cream, but we go for coffee with a plate of the house speciality - sweet beans. Beautifully presented, but I remain unconvinced about sweet kidney beans for example. 

Most interesting is watching the antics of the young Japanese there - we’re the oldest by some way. I love the style of many of these young people - beautifully cut clothes in expensive fabrics - just how do they afford it? But along with that sophistication is a strange childishness. The two girls next to us had ordered some amazing floral concoction to eat/ drink, but rather than doing either, it’s a case of positioning the trays exactly at the right angle and taking various figures or soft toys from their bags and taking photos of themselves with these bizarre scenes. I feel I have to ask - just why? They just smile shyly and pose with said soft toys (I’m sure they have a proper name) - and I really do suspect they’ve been deliberately chosen to match today’s blouse! 

Refreshments over, it’s off to the art museum/gallery.  I love the design of the building, and feel its transparency and openness perfectly matches the way it’s used by families, children being welcome - and well behaved.  There are some fascinating installations - one in particular about which G gets more enthusiastic than he’s ever been in an art gallery! This is Plywood Shinchi - a great ‘boys and their toys’ piece with actual significance - and both enjoyable and fascinating to watch. 

There’s all sorts of weird and wonderful things - like a project involving capturing the breath of visitors through dehumidifiers, mixing this with kimchi, then using it to make paper, sheets of which are pegged up around the building ……..

To be honest, I’ve had it by now, but G insists we see the ‘proper’ Geisha area, we do, it’s lovely, but clearly far more popular and touristy than this morning’s. It does, however, give the chance for lots of photography as it’s getting dark and all the lights are coming on.

So all that’s left is to walk back to the hotel and relax - much less stressful than when G’s been using our day pass on the buses with no phone network and limited wifi! 

My main today’s the Contemporary Art Museum, with extras of  the ice cream sundae photoshoot, Kanazawa at night, the samurai district and installations in the gallery