Kanazawa

It was quite strange being the only guests staying in a six-floor hotel, but I guess that’s what can happen when you choose to stay in a ski resort on the top of a mountain during autumn. At breakfast we were given the same room with a view that we occupied for dinner last night. The lady who cooked dinner also prepared our breakfast. It began with a slice of Japanese salmon and some fried chicken, and then there were various other dishes. I’m not sure what they were, but I ate them all and really enjoyed them. Immediately after breakfast we jumped back into our courtesy vehicle and our hotel host drove us back to Nagano railway station, sixty minutes down the road.

We arrived at the station in plenty of time for our Shinkansen. As always, we had reserved seats which were really comfortable. We headed west from Nagano and soon reached the coastline. Then we headed south to Kanazawa. All up, the bullet train journey was of about an hour and a half’s duration. Our hotel was right around the corner from the station, so we just walked with our suitcases and were there in under five minutes. The first suggestion for the afternoon on our itinerary was a visit to the Omicho Market several blocks away. We were over half way there when, out of the blue, it began to rain quite heavily. We turned and headed back to the hotel, wondering how we would fill in a wet afternoon. There’s a little 60s American surf scene-themed cafe right next to our hotel, so we ducked in there, partially to escape the rain and partially to grab something for lunch. A cool 60s soundtrack played as we ate. Our host suggested we might help her out by writing a Google review, which I was happy to do because I enjoyed both the place and the meal. Ian wrote one too. She was so happy with both reviews that Marg and Theresa were both invited to select Japanese-themed trinkets as thank you gifts

Ian found a pamphlet for a bus that ran in a loop around Kanazawa past the two spots our travel agent suggested for today. We decided to visit the Omicho Market anyway, because it looked like it would have a roof and we wouldn’t get wet. The Market was the first stop on the bus route, so it was just a short ride. The market is essentially a food market, with a few other places selling a range of different items, such as clothing, souvenirs, children’s toys and flowers. There were many seafood stalls, so there was a strong fishy smell as we walked down the aisles that separated them. The fish looked really good, as did the oysters and the crabs. There was one seafood delicacy there that I wasn’t prepared to try – spiny sea urchins. They probably tasted fine, but they didn’t look very appetising to me. On another stall, I noticed a tray of fugu, the deadly Japanese delicacy that often causes a number of deaths every year. Fugu meat comes from the puffer fish. Its liver, ovaries and skin contain a deadly poison. Only highly skilled fugu chefs know how to prepare the fish safely to be eaten by diners. If a fugu chef makes a mistake, then a diner might be in peril. Bearing this mind, I decided to give the chance to try fugu at the food market a big miss.

While I’m in Japan, I’m hoping to sample a range of different street foods. Today, I thought I’d treat myself to a teriyaki chicken sushi roll. I thought they’d just pull a cold one out of a cabinet for me, but the chef behind the counter made a new one. So when it arrived, it was warm and fresh. My companions had wandered on further, and at first I thought I’d just follow them, eating as I go. But then I read the ‘No eating while walking’ sign, and recalled that my daugher Tess, who’s been here, warned me against walking down the street drinking or eating in Japan, as it’s the height of bad manners. Needless to say, I found a seat and remained there until I’d finished my sushi roll. We left the market after about an hour and hopped back on the bus. It was no longer raining.

We were told the best time to visit the Higachi Geisha District was late in the afternoon, as this is the time we might catch a rare glimpse of a geisha in full regalia walking down the street to meet a client. It was getting dark as we arrived. The Higachi Geisha District was first established in 1820. It contains a number of streets where the wooden buildings and cobblestone paving date back to the Edo-period. Back in time, wealthy men would seek the company of geishas for conversation, song and dance here. I don’t know if much of that still happens anymore. Today, the geisha district is full of restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and even jewelers. The place was full of tourists when we arrived. Some wore traditional kimonos, which they probably rented, rather than owned, and some dressed up their little kids in traditional dress as well. It added to the vibe. One thing bothered me as I walked around this beautiful part of the city. What would happen if a building here caught fire? There’s so much timber and the buildings are all very close together. I hope I never find out. It was a really interesting place to visit, although we never did spot a real geisha. We returned to the bus stop and waited for our bus.

There’s a little local food place just around the corner from our hotel and an Irish pub across the road. We were tossing up which one to go to for dinner. We thought we might start at the Irish pub, have a drink and check out the menu. The drinks were okay, but the menu was awful – just very basic Western food and nothing remotely Irish in sight. I went across the road to the Japanese place and took a snapshot of its promotional sandwich board. All of the text was in Japanese hiragana, so I got out my phone and opened the photo in Google Translate. Google’s AI feature summarised the menu items as essentially all different types of gyoza (dumplings). That sounded perfect for us. Once seated, I used Google Translate again to read and order online from a menu on a tablet device. Only after I’d completed the table’s order online and submitted it, did the guy next to Ian lean over and point to a button on the screen that would have allowed us to read and order everything in English! Damn! Anyway, the good news is that we got our order perfectly correct and we loved every dish that was served up to us. And, despite pigging out on six platefuls of delicious gyozas and washing them down with whiskey highballs, the entire bill came to just over sixty bucks for the four of us. What a bonus! Even better, when we had a drink in the Irish pub a little earlier, we’d arrived during Happy Hour and scored our drinks at a reduced rate there as well.