Four nights in Kanazawa + Noto Peninsula self drive + Shirakawago stopover
Apr 20th, 2016, 05:32 PM
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Four nights in Kanazawa + Noto Peninsula self drive + Shirakawago stopover
My husband and I travelled to Kanazawa last month. The dates of our trip (25-29 March) fell over a Japanese school holiday period when advance planning is essential but we managed to pull it together two weeks before travel. (we are based in Tokyo, so this was a domestic trip but it was still dangerously close to last minute.) The plan: shinkansen to Kanazawa, two days touring the city, third day rent a car to drive up the Noto Peninsula; fourth day, Nohi Bus to Shirakawago for a few hours, then bus to Toyama to rejoin the shinkansen back to Tokyo.
Given the short lead time, our usual tactic of buying a JTB hotel and rail package wasn't an option; their Kanazawa properties were sold out. Based on recommendations from posters here, I rang the Hotel Trusty Korinbo and booked what they said was one of their last doubles (76,200 yen total for four nights and 8 breakfasts: the price rose on the weekend so not sure of the per diem rate). Shinkansen tickets were bought through JTB: 14,120 yen each way. The concierge at our apartment building helped me with bus reservations to Shirakawago and Toyama. The fares: 1,850 yen from Kanazawa; 1,700 yen to Toyama. ( JTB also handles bookings but for a small fee.)
Booking a car for the Noto daytrip was easily done via a phone call to the national office of Toyota Rental Car (one day for 6,480 yen). The agent spoke perfect English and asked me to note the national number as well as the local Kanazawa office number so that if we encountered any language difficulties at branch level, the national office could translate. This proved unnecessary but it was nice to know backup was there.
I also booked a slot at Myoryuji (the 'Ninja Temple) for which telephone reservations are required. The website makes it crystal clear they do not cater to non-Japanese speakers. My language skills are rudimentary and the very formal polite speech (keigo) of the woman at the other end unnerved me to the point I ended up bowing repeatedly to the phone. Something she said at the end made me suspect her English was far better than my Japanese.
The only other bit of advance planning was to email the hotel to ask for dinner reservations for our Friday night arrival.. The answer was not to worry, something could be arranged upon check in. Reading online reviews I knew there were a handful of extremely popular places that we wouldn't be walking into without a reservation but we aren't foodies focused on trying the top rated places so let it drop. As long as we didn't go hungry that first night, we weren't too worried.
ARRIVAL
The Front Desk's suggestions on our Friday night check in included exactly those 'reservations required' places, eg Otomezushi and Itaru Honten. I queried those, at which point the Front Desk person laughed merrily, agreed we'd never get in there on such short notice and crossed those off and then for good measure crossed off the Itaru Korinbo branch too. Everyone - including the taxi driver who took us to Tokyo Station, had advised us to eat lots of fish in Kanazawa so we asked for someplace nearby with good sashimi. They suggested Jinya, a small counter + couple of tables restaurant just by the gate to the Oyama shrine, a few minutes walk away. They called first, describing us as 'foreign guests' and put down the phone to say there was availability though the menu would be limited to a choice of set courses - 3,000 yen, 4,000 yen or 5,000 yen. We are very comfortable with omakase, that is, leaving it up to the chef but when we got there discovered the restaurant was festooned with hand written signs of the days' specials in Japanese. The English language set menu was obviously aimed at tourists.. We chose the 4,000 yen menu and assumed (incorrectly) that it would include at least one of the daily specials. We started with sashimi sprinkled with gold leaf and there was a delicious salt grilled Nodo-guro (rosy sea bass, a Kanazawa specialty) but that was it for the fish. It was all good but served extremely quickly and we were the only diners. This was our least enjoyable dinner in Kanazawa. From here on, we chose an izakayas for the evening meal, sometimes having to walk into quite a few before finding one with space but never again being confined to a separate 'tourists' menu.'
The Hotel Trusty had come highly recommended for its breakfast buffet. As my husband tends to skip lunch, I am extremely keen on fuelling up in the morning and the Trusty certainly provided a tempting choice: the traditional Japanese selection of miso soup, fish, pickles, as well as scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and sausages (of the cocktail type). I thought this must be the extent of the Western offerings and the first morning, loaded up my plate before discovering a whole other buffet on the opposite side of the room where French toast, pastries, yogurt and fruit completed the Western selection.
The hotel's location is superb: we walked just about everywhere except for the station and the rental car office. The room itself was miniscule - the previous year a friend and I had shared a twin room in a business hotel in Matsumoto for about 9,000 yen/night, B&B. That room had twin beds, a desk, two arm chairs. It included toiletries and night shirts and a big window with a view of the mountains and it was perfectly fine. But the Trusty definitely had the design edge: all very smart and sleek, with some very nice touches. Our third floor room would have looked directly onto the next door building but this had been obscured by an interestingly textured wall with bamboo planted in front, the whole thing floodlit. The shower, though small, was one of the all time greats in terms of pressure. Each night a pair of highly starched nightshirts was laid out on the beds.
There are a couple of different strategies when choosing hotels in Japan. One is the big splurge ryokan for that special experience but if it's not on business expenses or points, going with a basic business hotel makes a lot of sense, as long as the location is good. Trusty falls between these two extremes. (We have done minshuku in our time but now rule out places without ensuite facilities.)
More to follow - if any interest shown!.
Given the short lead time, our usual tactic of buying a JTB hotel and rail package wasn't an option; their Kanazawa properties were sold out. Based on recommendations from posters here, I rang the Hotel Trusty Korinbo and booked what they said was one of their last doubles (76,200 yen total for four nights and 8 breakfasts: the price rose on the weekend so not sure of the per diem rate). Shinkansen tickets were bought through JTB: 14,120 yen each way. The concierge at our apartment building helped me with bus reservations to Shirakawago and Toyama. The fares: 1,850 yen from Kanazawa; 1,700 yen to Toyama. ( JTB also handles bookings but for a small fee.)
Booking a car for the Noto daytrip was easily done via a phone call to the national office of Toyota Rental Car (one day for 6,480 yen). The agent spoke perfect English and asked me to note the national number as well as the local Kanazawa office number so that if we encountered any language difficulties at branch level, the national office could translate. This proved unnecessary but it was nice to know backup was there.
I also booked a slot at Myoryuji (the 'Ninja Temple) for which telephone reservations are required. The website makes it crystal clear they do not cater to non-Japanese speakers. My language skills are rudimentary and the very formal polite speech (keigo) of the woman at the other end unnerved me to the point I ended up bowing repeatedly to the phone. Something she said at the end made me suspect her English was far better than my Japanese.
The only other bit of advance planning was to email the hotel to ask for dinner reservations for our Friday night arrival.. The answer was not to worry, something could be arranged upon check in. Reading online reviews I knew there were a handful of extremely popular places that we wouldn't be walking into without a reservation but we aren't foodies focused on trying the top rated places so let it drop. As long as we didn't go hungry that first night, we weren't too worried.
ARRIVAL
The Front Desk's suggestions on our Friday night check in included exactly those 'reservations required' places, eg Otomezushi and Itaru Honten. I queried those, at which point the Front Desk person laughed merrily, agreed we'd never get in there on such short notice and crossed those off and then for good measure crossed off the Itaru Korinbo branch too. Everyone - including the taxi driver who took us to Tokyo Station, had advised us to eat lots of fish in Kanazawa so we asked for someplace nearby with good sashimi. They suggested Jinya, a small counter + couple of tables restaurant just by the gate to the Oyama shrine, a few minutes walk away. They called first, describing us as 'foreign guests' and put down the phone to say there was availability though the menu would be limited to a choice of set courses - 3,000 yen, 4,000 yen or 5,000 yen. We are very comfortable with omakase, that is, leaving it up to the chef but when we got there discovered the restaurant was festooned with hand written signs of the days' specials in Japanese. The English language set menu was obviously aimed at tourists.. We chose the 4,000 yen menu and assumed (incorrectly) that it would include at least one of the daily specials. We started with sashimi sprinkled with gold leaf and there was a delicious salt grilled Nodo-guro (rosy sea bass, a Kanazawa specialty) but that was it for the fish. It was all good but served extremely quickly and we were the only diners. This was our least enjoyable dinner in Kanazawa. From here on, we chose an izakayas for the evening meal, sometimes having to walk into quite a few before finding one with space but never again being confined to a separate 'tourists' menu.'
The Hotel Trusty had come highly recommended for its breakfast buffet. As my husband tends to skip lunch, I am extremely keen on fuelling up in the morning and the Trusty certainly provided a tempting choice: the traditional Japanese selection of miso soup, fish, pickles, as well as scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and sausages (of the cocktail type). I thought this must be the extent of the Western offerings and the first morning, loaded up my plate before discovering a whole other buffet on the opposite side of the room where French toast, pastries, yogurt and fruit completed the Western selection.
The hotel's location is superb: we walked just about everywhere except for the station and the rental car office. The room itself was miniscule - the previous year a friend and I had shared a twin room in a business hotel in Matsumoto for about 9,000 yen/night, B&B. That room had twin beds, a desk, two arm chairs. It included toiletries and night shirts and a big window with a view of the mountains and it was perfectly fine. But the Trusty definitely had the design edge: all very smart and sleek, with some very nice touches. Our third floor room would have looked directly onto the next door building but this had been obscured by an interestingly textured wall with bamboo planted in front, the whole thing floodlit. The shower, though small, was one of the all time greats in terms of pressure. Each night a pair of highly starched nightshirts was laid out on the beds.
There are a couple of different strategies when choosing hotels in Japan. One is the big splurge ryokan for that special experience but if it's not on business expenses or points, going with a basic business hotel makes a lot of sense, as long as the location is good. Trusty falls between these two extremes. (We have done minshuku in our time but now rule out places without ensuite facilities.)
More to follow - if any interest shown!.
Apr 21st, 2016, 12:40 AM
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Yay, we were in Kanazawa a few days ago, also at the Trusty, and loved it. Our bathroom was the best we've enjoyed in western hotel here, though the room was tight on space and storage. We loved it though. Can't wait to read more. Still in Japan but still share mine when home!
Apr 21st, 2016, 12:57 PM
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I feel your disappointment regarding Otomezushi. We weren't able to get reservations last time we were in Kanazawa either.
We did get into Mitsukawa Sushi located near the Higashi Chaya district. It has 8 counter seats with 2 services per evening and several taxi drivers later said it is considered one of the top sushi restaurants in Kanazawa. Excellent omakase sushi dinner with enjoyable friendly service. Reservations a must.
We did get into Mitsukawa Sushi located near the Higashi Chaya district. It has 8 counter seats with 2 services per evening and several taxi drivers later said it is considered one of the top sushi restaurants in Kanazawa. Excellent omakase sushi dinner with enjoyable friendly service. Reservations a must.
Apr 21st, 2016, 03:45 PM
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Thank you, All! Will continue the TR below. Reader54, I was referring to the Hotel Morschein in Matsumoto. The room was hardly spacious - my point was that it was at least the size of Trusty's but significantly cheaper. Please note though that the price was part of a rail+ hotel JTB package: round trip from Tokyo + 1 night B&B totalled 16,500 yen in April last year (high season). The previous November, we'd stayed at the much more upmarket Hotel Buena Vista (nowwhere near as convenient a location). Yes, we liked Matsumoto so much we visited twice in six months. If you have the time, taking the train through the valley and then renting bikes to cycle to the wasabi farm is a fun day trip. Oh, and Hotel Morschein offers free bikes but it was snowing on our April visit.
Apr 21st, 2016, 04:04 PM
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Day 1 (Saturday) : Kenroku-en, the D.T. Suzuki Museum, Omicho, Higashi Chaya
We headed first to Kenroku-en, the famous garden, having been warned that this, Kanazawa's premiere sight, gets crowded early. It was hardly the crack of dawn, but we did notice a great difference from our time of arrival (around 10 AM ) and our departure a couple of hours later when tour groups had descended complete with flag waving leaders with microphones. . Although a garden-lover, I am not a fan of the classical Japanese garden so Kenroku-en's ranking in the top three had left me unimpressed.
But I soon realized my mistake: in late March, with hardly anything in bloom, it was still gorgeous. And the Seisonkaku Villa in the corner of the garden - really a Dower House built by Lord Kaga for his mother - is unmissable. I saw visitors come up, intrigued by the long low wall and then turn away, put off by the 1,000 yen admission. Please - it is definitely worth it! Lord Kaga was a very good son. This is just beautiful - look out for the paintings low down on the shoji - so as to be visible when seated on the tatami.
From Kenroku-en, we walked over to the Museum of Contemporary Art but the queue to enter was massive so we continued on to the DT Suzuki Museum. This was a highlight of the trip for me - the architecture, so austere from the outside ('looks like a bunker,' my husband said) serves as an indescribably effective metaphor for the Zen journey inward. Not everyone will respond this way; my husband took advantage of the strong signal in the mirror water garden to check his emails. When I pointed out this was hardly appropriate in a meditation site, he moved on to the contemplation room where I found him still on his phone, playing Candy Crush.
It was then a longish walk, skirting the castle grounds, to Omicho, the fish market. Here again, the long lines outside the restaurants put us off (we are obviously wimps when it comes to queuing). So we continued on to Higashi Chaya, the 'Eastern Tea House district' which was packed solid with tourists, most of them sporting Princess Cruise badges. The crowds only contributed to the lively atmosphere of this 'pleasure district' and it was easy to escape them by wandering down side alleys. Ochaya Shima , the restored Tea house, was calm and wonderfully atmospheric.
This was one of my favourite stops but for what transpired outside it as much as within. When we'd emerged, I wandered over to a neighbouring house to admire the potted plants when the owner appeared. She was a lovely, lively septuagenarian/octogenarian who spoke a very quick, very idiosyncratic English which she claimed to have learned solely from her junior high classes, movies and TV. She gave us a lightning-fast explanation of the 'dragon seed' vines she had growing and why the seeds in the gourds are lucky talismans (they are shaped like lucky mallets) - at which point our blank looks inspired another flood of explanations. Pointing at my husband, she asked me 'how long have you had him?' (made me laugh) and then offered marital advice.. When I complimented her on her English she thanked me for my 'spam compliment' - a great phrase.
Buoyed up by this encounter, we headed back to the hotel on foot. The long walk was broken up by two serendipitous stops: the Clifton Karhu Gallery and an old Meiji era bank. Clifton Karhu, an American artist, had lived in Kanazawa and his last home, a renovated teahouse, is now a small gallery stocked with his private collection of prints. The gallery owner apologized profusely for the high prices : surely atypical behaviour for an art dealer - and completely unnecessary given Karhu's international standing.
The Bank building was just down the street from Shinise Koryukan, an old merchant house in Owari-cho. As I stopped here to peer in, the caretaker waved me to enter but when I pointed out my husband rapidly striding down the street, he rushed out and overtook him, saying 'Stop! Look here!' pointing to the more or less abandoned Bank. He urged us to look around the interior, even ushering us into the vault. I understood him to say it is used only for the occasional concert but it was an evocative space that would lend itself well to performances or exhibitions. I am a sucker for Meiji era buildings - awed by their solidity.
For dinner that night, we returned to Omicho market. The sushi restaurants close extremely early but I'd noted one, Kaisendonya, as open until 9 PM. We walked right in around 7 PM, at which point the owner brought the shop sign in and shut the door. There is no English spoken but there are lots of photos so no problem ordering. I chose a big rice bowl covered with crab for a little over 2,000 yen. My husband is a purist who didn't want his raw fish adulterated by rice so he simply asked for sashimi and a selection was brought for 1,800 yen. I liked this place - it was the only Kanazawa restaurant that served my drink of umeshusoda (Japanese plum wine and soda water) with a hard green plum at the bottom of the glass, old school style.
Day 2 (Sunday
Nagamachi & Myoryuji
We had a 4 PM slot booked at Myoryuji, the 'Ninja Temple.' . As we'd crammed a lot in on Saturday, we adopted a more leisurely pace the second day, walking over to the Nagamachi ( 'the Samurai district') . Compared to Higashi Chaya, this felt more like a (very upmarket) residential neighbourhood centred around a small heritage area. We ducked in and out of every 'free admission' building (many), buying a ticket only at the Nomura Samurai House, well worth it for the beautiful garden. We also visited most of the little galleries and shops.
When it became clear we were in danger of overdosing on kutani porcelain, we decided to head over to Teramachi or the temple area. Although our 4 PM tour was still a few hours away, we thought we could while away some time in a restaurant or coffee shop. However we hadn't factored in Sunday closings and most places were shut up tight.
It was at this point we learned how easy it is to ride the Kanazawa city busses. We hadn't bothered with the tourist loop bus given our propensity for walking but the regular city bus is straightforward. Only the final destination is written in English on the front but when the bus stops, a recording of all the stops is played quite loudly so by listening for 'Korinbo' (this entails standing fairly close to middle, boarding door) it was easy to find the right bus. Don't be alarmed by the fact that most passengers simply swipe transit cards on the reader - there is also a little ticket machine so just take a ticket which is numbered for the boarding stop. When getting off (and the stops are clearly marked/announced), the fare for each numbered stop is displayed and you drop the coins with the ticket into the box by the driver. We ended up riding the bus three times at a cost of 200 yen per journey. We also saw a 'Flat bus' - convenient in that there is a flat fare ( I believe 100 yen) however we saw only one of those compared to the near constant stream of the big city busses.
After riding the bus back to the hotel for a rest, we hopped another bus back to Myoryuji, the 'Ninja Temple.' (I had called to see if we could advance the 4 PM slot but been told that the afternoon was fully booked which we fully believed when we saw the crowds milling at the entrance.) They run a very slick operation - I think my husband spent the tour doing head counts, trying to calculate how much the temple made in a day: tours every 30 minutes at 1,000 yen per adult - a nice tidy sum, he decided.
Non Japanese speakers are handed a book with numbered English descriptions and after the big group listens to a recorded introduction in the main hall, small groups are led off in different directions - which means that numerical order of the book isn't necessarily followed. Our guide was very good at showing us what page we should be on so we kept up with the factual information being imparted. However what doesn't translate is all the flavour of the guide's spiel - ours made lots of jokes along the lines of 'don't be scared! don't fall!' but obviously we missed the nuances (if any) . My husband proclaimed it all 'very silly' but later when someone asked him about our trip, I noticed he went into considerable detail about Myoryuji in particular.
For dinner that night, we explored the small network of streets between Korinbo and Katamachi. We knew that both the Itaru izakayas were closed on Sunday. Gorohachi, another highly rated izakaya, had a crowd waiting to get in, spilling out into the street. We checked out a number of similar places and heard 'ippai' (full) at quite a few before finding the last two counter seats at what I'm pretty sure was Bunke (1-7 Kiguramachi).
An izakaya is a good compromise when one person is set on a particular food (my husband was determined to eat his weight in sashimi) and the other wants to try different dishes. As well as an English menu, there was a waiter eager to try out his language skills. Although 'dishes of the day' don't always make it onto the foreigners' menu, when seated at the counter, it is easy to see what the cooks are preparing and to order the same. The waiter told us the most popular dish was a Kanazawa specialty of mushrooms in boiling oil which we duly ordered and burnt our tongues on.
Day 3 (Monday): Drive to Noto Peninusla.
Following Toyota Rental's instructions, we took a taxi to their office, getting a receipt for reimbursement. The car was waiting for us and, by using a map the helpful but non-English speaking agent was able to discern our rough route and then programmed the GPS with both our first destination as well as the final one: the rental office for the car return that evening. From info on this forum, I knew that the telephone number of the destination was the key piece of information but the first place we were heading to was Ganmon, the rock in the sea. If it had a telephone, it appeared to be an unlisted number so the agent's help was invaluable. Not so helpful was my husband who after only a few minutes into the drive decided he couldn't stand the radio station and tried to retune, managing to cancel the GPS in the process. We finally had to pull over and figure out how to reprogramme.
Our itinerary was fairly simple: we wanted to head up the scenic West Coast, taking the small coastal road whenever possible, keeping an eye on the time and cutting across to the East Coast to head back. We wanted a leisurely day rather than a rushed one so decided to forego Wajima with all its lacquer ware. The old thatched house in Tokikuni (Kami tokikuni ke) interested me but my husband had had his fill of old houses and there was thatch in our future in Shirakawago.
I had visited Noto some 40 years ago (as a very young student!) and was curious to revisit the landscape. This was new territory for my husband but he prioritized enjoying the countryside over temples or lacquer workshops. Although I had one temple (Sojiji) on my list, I crossed it off in interest of marital harmony. ( For an overnight stay on Noto, Japanese friends spoke highly of Kagaya Ryokan as one of the best in the country).
We used a combination of a JNTO map and one picked up at the Kanazawa tourist office, neither were proper road maps and neither had the Kanji characters for place names. I'd seen a map online in both English and Japanese and hadn't printed it out, figuring it would be available from the tourist office. I kicked myself when it wasn't but in the event it turned out to have been unnecessary.
Driving out of Kanazawa we realized the GPS was following the many signs for Noto Satoyama Kaido - unmarked on either of the maps - quite an omission as this is the main route to Noto. It is an excellent road with nice sea views (check out the sea views from the bathrooms and the little cafe in the service area) . Ganmon, the rock in the sea was..... a rock in the sea. We enjoyed a very short stroll through pine trees out to a vantage point offering more views and sea breezes. Below the cliffs is a boarding point for the short boat rides up and down the coast. And a little stall grilling sea snails proved a major attraction for most of the Japanese who disembarked from the sightseeing coach which had pulled in behind us.
Eager to keep ahead of that coach, we jumped back in the car but this manoeuvre proved unnecessary as after Ganmon, we turned off the GPS to take the small coastal road. Coaches most probably keep to the main route as we didn't spy any others the rest of the day. In fact, we went through numerous tiny villages unmarked on our maps, seeing hardly any other cars.
An attraction noted on one of our maps intrigued me greatly: 'Colony of liverwort' .The only liverwort I knew was the green stuff we scraped off the cobblestones in our courtyard garden. The map showed this colony as somewhere vaguely beyond the Saruyama Cape Lighthouse so we headed in that direction. At one point we stopped by a roadside rest area selling local produce, including what looked like fern shoots. I showed the women tending the stall the map and after exclaiming over the fact that their little village was unmarked, they pointed the way to the flowers which they assured us would be in bloom. When we arrived, the couple manning the entrance point appeared to have been warned of our coming, making a nice welcoming committee. The 300 yen admission fee got us access to a network of cliffside paths and our choice of bamboo staffs as hiking poles.
Very soon after starting along the cliff side trail we noticed a slope covered in pink and white wild flowers. I now realize these were wild hepatica and the Japanese name - yukiwariso - translates as blooming after the snow Also on the trail were a number of well equipped hikers and mothers with children - a surprising number of people out on a Monday morning, especially given the scarcity of cars on the road. . We chose a cliff top amble rather than a steep hike, stopping frequently as we spied more colonies of the blooms. This was probably my favourite part of the day. My husband said he enjoyed it too but refused to stop at the Colony of Skunk Cabbage also marked on the map.
So the rest of the day unfolded - pottering along, pulling off to stop at whatever roadside attraction caught our fancy. The Shiroyone terraced rice fields were notably underwhelming but it may have been too early in the year. The salt farm was not yet open for the season but the owner was on hand and acted out most of the process for us, helped by a limited by impressively technical English vocabulary. We decided not to continue to Noroshi, the village at the tip of the peninsula but headed back to Kanazawa on the main roads. I had enjoyed revisiting Noto but my husband's verdict was that he wouldn't recommend it to anyone with only limited time in Japan. He'd had a good time but he said he wouldn't describe Noto as a Must See but as a pleasant side trip for someone on an extended stay in the country.
We were back in Kanazawa early enough to walk into Itaru Korinbo, one of the more popular izakayas, without a reservation (6 pm, Monday night - we got the last two counter seats). We ordered pretty much the same things as we'd had at the izakaya the night before: fried chicken, sashimi, grilled fish and then got a little carried away and started pointing to what our fellow diners were having and requesting the same: lotus root tempura being the standout for me. The meal was the most expensive of the trip: about 12,000 yen for a lot of food and drink for two.. I don't think you can really go wrong in any busy izakaya .
Day 4 (Tuesday): Shirakawago
We picked up our reserved Nohi Bus tickets to Shirakawago the following morning. Advance booking is essential, a couple of people checking for tickets that day left the bus office disappointed. We were on the 9:05 which got in at 10:30. The bus schedule allowed either 3 or 5 hours in Shirakawago. As I'd read somewhere that at least four hours was advised, I opted for the 3:30 bus on to Toyama, giving us 5 hours. On arrival, we checked our bags in the last available locker but there was a sign advising that if all lockers were taken, bags could be left for a small fee in the Information Office.
So we set off across the suspension bridge .....but very quickly turned back to the ticket office to see if we could depart on an earlier bus. Luckily the 1:20 still had seats. If we'd been headed to Takayama, I doubt we could have managed to change our tickets as those busses appeared sold out but luckily Toyama was the less popular destination. Why did we cut short our Shirakawago stay? Well, it is a very very pretty village - the thatched houses in the mountain valley are picture postcard perfect but oh, the crowds. Coach after coach pulled in, disgorging day trippers like us. Of course everyone says the best way to visit is to arrive late in the day and spend the night, that when the last coach departs the setting is truly magical.
I'd chosen the original longer stay to allow a mountain walk but we didn't see any routes signposted. Perhaps we missed them or perhaps it was too early in the season. The density of the crowds turned the village into a theme park. We walked up to the viewpoint and had a short stroll through the woods. We visited the Myozenji Museum, the largest (5 story) thatched building in the village, providing the living quarters for the Temple. This is a truly impressive structure, constructed without nails or clamps but using wedges and ropes. The Wada House, as the house of the Village Headman, was similarly grand, the largest private home in the village. It would have been good to explore a smaller, more modest house for contrast but perhaps the only way to do that would be to overnight in one of the minshuku.
If we hadn't been able to shorten the visit, we would have probably checked out each house in turn, maybe walked along the riverbank and eked out the time by having a leisurely meal. As it was, we didn't eat apart from a soft icecream - check out the stand in the coach park which offers some of the most unusual flavours I've seen in Japan. I recommend the 'mountain chestnut.' We didn't feel shortchanged having only three hours in Shirakawago and were glad to move on. The whole visit was a bit reminiscent of visiting Carcassonne in France or Clovelly in England: perfect yet somewhat artificial - though people do live there. Undoubtedly an overnight stay offers a different perspective.
The bus to Toyama was right on time and we were able to move up our Shinkansen tickets to an earlier train back to Tokyo.
SUMMARY: Kanazawa is a a fantastic destination with a good number of key sights plus interesting neighbourhoods to wander through. Shinkansen from Tokyo takes just under three hours. It is a truly foreigner friendly city, easy to get around on foot.. We were struck by the abundance of English language signs - far more than in Tokyo, although the capital is gearing up in a big way for the 2020 Olympics. Noto is a pleasant side trip, a simple self-drive but perhaps not high on the list for anyone with only a short time in Japan. Shirakawago was far more touristy than we expected, perhaps better experienced as an overnight stay or part of a self drive trip.
We headed first to Kenroku-en, the famous garden, having been warned that this, Kanazawa's premiere sight, gets crowded early. It was hardly the crack of dawn, but we did notice a great difference from our time of arrival (around 10 AM ) and our departure a couple of hours later when tour groups had descended complete with flag waving leaders with microphones. . Although a garden-lover, I am not a fan of the classical Japanese garden so Kenroku-en's ranking in the top three had left me unimpressed.
But I soon realized my mistake: in late March, with hardly anything in bloom, it was still gorgeous. And the Seisonkaku Villa in the corner of the garden - really a Dower House built by Lord Kaga for his mother - is unmissable. I saw visitors come up, intrigued by the long low wall and then turn away, put off by the 1,000 yen admission. Please - it is definitely worth it! Lord Kaga was a very good son. This is just beautiful - look out for the paintings low down on the shoji - so as to be visible when seated on the tatami.
From Kenroku-en, we walked over to the Museum of Contemporary Art but the queue to enter was massive so we continued on to the DT Suzuki Museum. This was a highlight of the trip for me - the architecture, so austere from the outside ('looks like a bunker,' my husband said) serves as an indescribably effective metaphor for the Zen journey inward. Not everyone will respond this way; my husband took advantage of the strong signal in the mirror water garden to check his emails. When I pointed out this was hardly appropriate in a meditation site, he moved on to the contemplation room where I found him still on his phone, playing Candy Crush.
It was then a longish walk, skirting the castle grounds, to Omicho, the fish market. Here again, the long lines outside the restaurants put us off (we are obviously wimps when it comes to queuing). So we continued on to Higashi Chaya, the 'Eastern Tea House district' which was packed solid with tourists, most of them sporting Princess Cruise badges. The crowds only contributed to the lively atmosphere of this 'pleasure district' and it was easy to escape them by wandering down side alleys. Ochaya Shima , the restored Tea house, was calm and wonderfully atmospheric.
This was one of my favourite stops but for what transpired outside it as much as within. When we'd emerged, I wandered over to a neighbouring house to admire the potted plants when the owner appeared. She was a lovely, lively septuagenarian/octogenarian who spoke a very quick, very idiosyncratic English which she claimed to have learned solely from her junior high classes, movies and TV. She gave us a lightning-fast explanation of the 'dragon seed' vines she had growing and why the seeds in the gourds are lucky talismans (they are shaped like lucky mallets) - at which point our blank looks inspired another flood of explanations. Pointing at my husband, she asked me 'how long have you had him?' (made me laugh) and then offered marital advice.. When I complimented her on her English she thanked me for my 'spam compliment' - a great phrase.
Buoyed up by this encounter, we headed back to the hotel on foot. The long walk was broken up by two serendipitous stops: the Clifton Karhu Gallery and an old Meiji era bank. Clifton Karhu, an American artist, had lived in Kanazawa and his last home, a renovated teahouse, is now a small gallery stocked with his private collection of prints. The gallery owner apologized profusely for the high prices : surely atypical behaviour for an art dealer - and completely unnecessary given Karhu's international standing.
The Bank building was just down the street from Shinise Koryukan, an old merchant house in Owari-cho. As I stopped here to peer in, the caretaker waved me to enter but when I pointed out my husband rapidly striding down the street, he rushed out and overtook him, saying 'Stop! Look here!' pointing to the more or less abandoned Bank. He urged us to look around the interior, even ushering us into the vault. I understood him to say it is used only for the occasional concert but it was an evocative space that would lend itself well to performances or exhibitions. I am a sucker for Meiji era buildings - awed by their solidity.
For dinner that night, we returned to Omicho market. The sushi restaurants close extremely early but I'd noted one, Kaisendonya, as open until 9 PM. We walked right in around 7 PM, at which point the owner brought the shop sign in and shut the door. There is no English spoken but there are lots of photos so no problem ordering. I chose a big rice bowl covered with crab for a little over 2,000 yen. My husband is a purist who didn't want his raw fish adulterated by rice so he simply asked for sashimi and a selection was brought for 1,800 yen. I liked this place - it was the only Kanazawa restaurant that served my drink of umeshusoda (Japanese plum wine and soda water) with a hard green plum at the bottom of the glass, old school style.
Day 2 (Sunday
Nagamachi & MyoryujiWe had a 4 PM slot booked at Myoryuji, the 'Ninja Temple.' . As we'd crammed a lot in on Saturday, we adopted a more leisurely pace the second day, walking over to the Nagamachi ( 'the Samurai district') . Compared to Higashi Chaya, this felt more like a (very upmarket) residential neighbourhood centred around a small heritage area. We ducked in and out of every 'free admission' building (many), buying a ticket only at the Nomura Samurai House, well worth it for the beautiful garden. We also visited most of the little galleries and shops.
When it became clear we were in danger of overdosing on kutani porcelain, we decided to head over to Teramachi or the temple area. Although our 4 PM tour was still a few hours away, we thought we could while away some time in a restaurant or coffee shop. However we hadn't factored in Sunday closings and most places were shut up tight.
It was at this point we learned how easy it is to ride the Kanazawa city busses. We hadn't bothered with the tourist loop bus given our propensity for walking but the regular city bus is straightforward. Only the final destination is written in English on the front but when the bus stops, a recording of all the stops is played quite loudly so by listening for 'Korinbo' (this entails standing fairly close to middle, boarding door) it was easy to find the right bus. Don't be alarmed by the fact that most passengers simply swipe transit cards on the reader - there is also a little ticket machine so just take a ticket which is numbered for the boarding stop. When getting off (and the stops are clearly marked/announced), the fare for each numbered stop is displayed and you drop the coins with the ticket into the box by the driver. We ended up riding the bus three times at a cost of 200 yen per journey. We also saw a 'Flat bus' - convenient in that there is a flat fare ( I believe 100 yen) however we saw only one of those compared to the near constant stream of the big city busses.
After riding the bus back to the hotel for a rest, we hopped another bus back to Myoryuji, the 'Ninja Temple.' (I had called to see if we could advance the 4 PM slot but been told that the afternoon was fully booked which we fully believed when we saw the crowds milling at the entrance.) They run a very slick operation - I think my husband spent the tour doing head counts, trying to calculate how much the temple made in a day: tours every 30 minutes at 1,000 yen per adult - a nice tidy sum, he decided.
Non Japanese speakers are handed a book with numbered English descriptions and after the big group listens to a recorded introduction in the main hall, small groups are led off in different directions - which means that numerical order of the book isn't necessarily followed. Our guide was very good at showing us what page we should be on so we kept up with the factual information being imparted. However what doesn't translate is all the flavour of the guide's spiel - ours made lots of jokes along the lines of 'don't be scared! don't fall!' but obviously we missed the nuances (if any) . My husband proclaimed it all 'very silly' but later when someone asked him about our trip, I noticed he went into considerable detail about Myoryuji in particular.
For dinner that night, we explored the small network of streets between Korinbo and Katamachi. We knew that both the Itaru izakayas were closed on Sunday. Gorohachi, another highly rated izakaya, had a crowd waiting to get in, spilling out into the street. We checked out a number of similar places and heard 'ippai' (full) at quite a few before finding the last two counter seats at what I'm pretty sure was Bunke (1-7 Kiguramachi).
An izakaya is a good compromise when one person is set on a particular food (my husband was determined to eat his weight in sashimi) and the other wants to try different dishes. As well as an English menu, there was a waiter eager to try out his language skills. Although 'dishes of the day' don't always make it onto the foreigners' menu, when seated at the counter, it is easy to see what the cooks are preparing and to order the same. The waiter told us the most popular dish was a Kanazawa specialty of mushrooms in boiling oil which we duly ordered and burnt our tongues on.
Day 3 (Monday): Drive to Noto Peninusla.
Following Toyota Rental's instructions, we took a taxi to their office, getting a receipt for reimbursement. The car was waiting for us and, by using a map the helpful but non-English speaking agent was able to discern our rough route and then programmed the GPS with both our first destination as well as the final one: the rental office for the car return that evening. From info on this forum, I knew that the telephone number of the destination was the key piece of information but the first place we were heading to was Ganmon, the rock in the sea. If it had a telephone, it appeared to be an unlisted number so the agent's help was invaluable. Not so helpful was my husband who after only a few minutes into the drive decided he couldn't stand the radio station and tried to retune, managing to cancel the GPS in the process. We finally had to pull over and figure out how to reprogramme.
Our itinerary was fairly simple: we wanted to head up the scenic West Coast, taking the small coastal road whenever possible, keeping an eye on the time and cutting across to the East Coast to head back. We wanted a leisurely day rather than a rushed one so decided to forego Wajima with all its lacquer ware. The old thatched house in Tokikuni (Kami tokikuni ke) interested me but my husband had had his fill of old houses and there was thatch in our future in Shirakawago.
I had visited Noto some 40 years ago (as a very young student!) and was curious to revisit the landscape. This was new territory for my husband but he prioritized enjoying the countryside over temples or lacquer workshops. Although I had one temple (Sojiji) on my list, I crossed it off in interest of marital harmony. ( For an overnight stay on Noto, Japanese friends spoke highly of Kagaya Ryokan as one of the best in the country).
We used a combination of a JNTO map and one picked up at the Kanazawa tourist office, neither were proper road maps and neither had the Kanji characters for place names. I'd seen a map online in both English and Japanese and hadn't printed it out, figuring it would be available from the tourist office. I kicked myself when it wasn't but in the event it turned out to have been unnecessary.
Driving out of Kanazawa we realized the GPS was following the many signs for Noto Satoyama Kaido - unmarked on either of the maps - quite an omission as this is the main route to Noto. It is an excellent road with nice sea views (check out the sea views from the bathrooms and the little cafe in the service area) . Ganmon, the rock in the sea was..... a rock in the sea. We enjoyed a very short stroll through pine trees out to a vantage point offering more views and sea breezes. Below the cliffs is a boarding point for the short boat rides up and down the coast. And a little stall grilling sea snails proved a major attraction for most of the Japanese who disembarked from the sightseeing coach which had pulled in behind us.
Eager to keep ahead of that coach, we jumped back in the car but this manoeuvre proved unnecessary as after Ganmon, we turned off the GPS to take the small coastal road. Coaches most probably keep to the main route as we didn't spy any others the rest of the day. In fact, we went through numerous tiny villages unmarked on our maps, seeing hardly any other cars.
An attraction noted on one of our maps intrigued me greatly: 'Colony of liverwort' .The only liverwort I knew was the green stuff we scraped off the cobblestones in our courtyard garden. The map showed this colony as somewhere vaguely beyond the Saruyama Cape Lighthouse so we headed in that direction. At one point we stopped by a roadside rest area selling local produce, including what looked like fern shoots. I showed the women tending the stall the map and after exclaiming over the fact that their little village was unmarked, they pointed the way to the flowers which they assured us would be in bloom. When we arrived, the couple manning the entrance point appeared to have been warned of our coming, making a nice welcoming committee. The 300 yen admission fee got us access to a network of cliffside paths and our choice of bamboo staffs as hiking poles.
Very soon after starting along the cliff side trail we noticed a slope covered in pink and white wild flowers. I now realize these were wild hepatica and the Japanese name - yukiwariso - translates as blooming after the snow Also on the trail were a number of well equipped hikers and mothers with children - a surprising number of people out on a Monday morning, especially given the scarcity of cars on the road. . We chose a cliff top amble rather than a steep hike, stopping frequently as we spied more colonies of the blooms. This was probably my favourite part of the day. My husband said he enjoyed it too but refused to stop at the Colony of Skunk Cabbage also marked on the map.
So the rest of the day unfolded - pottering along, pulling off to stop at whatever roadside attraction caught our fancy. The Shiroyone terraced rice fields were notably underwhelming but it may have been too early in the year. The salt farm was not yet open for the season but the owner was on hand and acted out most of the process for us, helped by a limited by impressively technical English vocabulary. We decided not to continue to Noroshi, the village at the tip of the peninsula but headed back to Kanazawa on the main roads. I had enjoyed revisiting Noto but my husband's verdict was that he wouldn't recommend it to anyone with only limited time in Japan. He'd had a good time but he said he wouldn't describe Noto as a Must See but as a pleasant side trip for someone on an extended stay in the country.
We were back in Kanazawa early enough to walk into Itaru Korinbo, one of the more popular izakayas, without a reservation (6 pm, Monday night - we got the last two counter seats). We ordered pretty much the same things as we'd had at the izakaya the night before: fried chicken, sashimi, grilled fish and then got a little carried away and started pointing to what our fellow diners were having and requesting the same: lotus root tempura being the standout for me. The meal was the most expensive of the trip: about 12,000 yen for a lot of food and drink for two.. I don't think you can really go wrong in any busy izakaya .
Day 4 (Tuesday): Shirakawago
We picked up our reserved Nohi Bus tickets to Shirakawago the following morning. Advance booking is essential, a couple of people checking for tickets that day left the bus office disappointed. We were on the 9:05 which got in at 10:30. The bus schedule allowed either 3 or 5 hours in Shirakawago. As I'd read somewhere that at least four hours was advised, I opted for the 3:30 bus on to Toyama, giving us 5 hours. On arrival, we checked our bags in the last available locker but there was a sign advising that if all lockers were taken, bags could be left for a small fee in the Information Office.
So we set off across the suspension bridge .....but very quickly turned back to the ticket office to see if we could depart on an earlier bus. Luckily the 1:20 still had seats. If we'd been headed to Takayama, I doubt we could have managed to change our tickets as those busses appeared sold out but luckily Toyama was the less popular destination. Why did we cut short our Shirakawago stay? Well, it is a very very pretty village - the thatched houses in the mountain valley are picture postcard perfect but oh, the crowds. Coach after coach pulled in, disgorging day trippers like us. Of course everyone says the best way to visit is to arrive late in the day and spend the night, that when the last coach departs the setting is truly magical.
I'd chosen the original longer stay to allow a mountain walk but we didn't see any routes signposted. Perhaps we missed them or perhaps it was too early in the season. The density of the crowds turned the village into a theme park. We walked up to the viewpoint and had a short stroll through the woods. We visited the Myozenji Museum, the largest (5 story) thatched building in the village, providing the living quarters for the Temple. This is a truly impressive structure, constructed without nails or clamps but using wedges and ropes. The Wada House, as the house of the Village Headman, was similarly grand, the largest private home in the village. It would have been good to explore a smaller, more modest house for contrast but perhaps the only way to do that would be to overnight in one of the minshuku.
If we hadn't been able to shorten the visit, we would have probably checked out each house in turn, maybe walked along the riverbank and eked out the time by having a leisurely meal. As it was, we didn't eat apart from a soft icecream - check out the stand in the coach park which offers some of the most unusual flavours I've seen in Japan. I recommend the 'mountain chestnut.' We didn't feel shortchanged having only three hours in Shirakawago and were glad to move on. The whole visit was a bit reminiscent of visiting Carcassonne in France or Clovelly in England: perfect yet somewhat artificial - though people do live there. Undoubtedly an overnight stay offers a different perspective.
The bus to Toyama was right on time and we were able to move up our Shinkansen tickets to an earlier train back to Tokyo.
SUMMARY: Kanazawa is a a fantastic destination with a good number of key sights plus interesting neighbourhoods to wander through. Shinkansen from Tokyo takes just under three hours. It is a truly foreigner friendly city, easy to get around on foot.. We were struck by the abundance of English language signs - far more than in Tokyo, although the capital is gearing up in a big way for the 2020 Olympics. Noto is a pleasant side trip, a simple self-drive but perhaps not high on the list for anyone with only a short time in Japan. Shirakawago was far more touristy than we expected, perhaps better experienced as an overnight stay or part of a self drive trip.
Apr 22nd, 2016, 02:22 AM
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Thank you for reading, Kavey. Did you notice the map also had 'Firefly's habitat' marked? I assume it was more than the one - and also that it meant later in the season. Firefly viewing is a big summer ritual in Japan.
Apr 22nd, 2016, 04:14 AM
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The maps weren't proper road maps but were picked up at the Information Office in Kanazawa or Tokyo: "Unforgettable Ishikawa, Map & Guide" and "The first GIAHS site in Japan: Wajima." It was the latter which had the liverwort, skunk cabbage and firefly habitat marked. GIAHS? No, me neither, but it refers to Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Site - a UNESCO designation.
Apr 22nd, 2016, 06:13 AM
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Interesting read as we spent a night on the Noto Peninsula before driving to Kanazawa and after flying from Tokyo on our first (and only) trip to Japan. As it was our only experience away from urban Japan, we found it much more worthwhile than your husband did. We stayed at a wonderful little place called Flatt's.
Apr 22nd, 2016, 10:42 PM
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Thank you so much for posting this. We are headed to Kanazawa as part of our Japan trip next month and with three full days there, were considering driving up the Noto Peninsula. Very helpful report.
Apr 23rd, 2016, 01:08 AM
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I didn't mean to put anyone off visiting Noto. It is not spectacular scenery but rather a quiet rural landscape. In retrospect what's really interesting was how deserted it was compared to the crowds we encountered in Kanazawa and Shirakawago. Of course we bypassed Wajima and the onsen area which may have been thronged... thanks for reading!
Apr 23rd, 2016, 06:56 AM
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Noto has some pretty scenery, especially along the southwest and northeast coasts, but is it gobsmackingly beautiful? - in a word, no.
Wajima is very laid back - for example, we were the only visitors to the lacquerware museum at the time we were there. We did not go, but I would guess that the onsen area near Wajima is equally quiet...
Wajima is very laid back - for example, we were the only visitors to the lacquerware museum at the time we were there. We did not go, but I would guess that the onsen area near Wajima is equally quiet...
