Kenrokuen

I was just finishing breakfast at the hotel when a strange, yet familiar feeling came over me. Less than two months ago I had a difficult time with a kidney stone. I had thirteen episodes over nine days with the stone before it passed. I went to the hospital during the second episode and they gave me a prescription for a powerful painkiller that worked a treat and helped me through each episode. During my hospital visit, a CT scan revealed that a small stone had broken away from the kidney wall and was travelling down the narrow ureter to the bladder. That’s the painful part. Almost immediately after the pain started at breakfast today, I knew it was another kidney stone, or perhaps a small fragment of the previous one. I excused myself from the breakfast table and went straight back to my room.

My immediate thought was panic, because I figured if I was stricken with another stone as difficult as the previous one, it could have implications for all of our travelling party. It didn’t feel as bad as previous ones I’ve had, so thankfully doctors and hospital visits would almost certainly be unnecessary, but it certainly would have an impact on my mobility, slowing me down everywhere we’d be going and basically making me feel like I wanted to stay in my room and wait the hour or two until the pain subsided.

We had planned to go out around 9.00 am and catch a bus to the Kenrokuen Garden. I looked out the window. It was raining. I sent Ian a message, suggesting we hold off the garden visit until the rain stopped. He was fine with that, and I knew it might buy me some time to get through the worst of the pain. We were fortunate, I guess, that today had probably the smallest number of things to do on our entire Japan itinerary. We didn’t have to catch any trains, or go on any long walks or day trips. All we needed to squeeze in was a visit to a beautiful garden and a castle adjoining it. And they were only about 20 minutes away on the bus. At 10.30 am we agreed to meet and head out. It was still raining, but not heavily. I was feeling miserable, but better than earlier in the morning.

Our first stop was Kanazawa Castle Park. The grounds around the castle were actually really nice to walk through. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. I was happy for Marg, Theresa and Ian to lead the way and I just followed. Walking didn’t really help, but it didn’t make it any worse either. I’m glad I was with them to see the castle, and I’m also grateful they took it slow so I could stay with them. If we paid a fee we could have gone inside, but I don’t think any of us was keen. We knew the rain would come again and we still had the garden across the road to see.

The castle, built in the 1580s, apparently is famous for its stone walls, which have been recently restored. There were three different masonry techniques used. In the natural stacking technique, big stones and smaller ones tend to settle against each other naturally and form a tight fit. In the rough stone stacking technique, larger rough stones are placed against each other and the rough surfaces tend to form an unmovable fit. And in the cut stone stacking technique, stones are cut and fitted against each other so that there are no gaps. Kanazawa Castle was the residence of local rulers until 1869. It was used as an army base until the end of WW2, and then as a university until 1995. Today it is being restored as a place people can visit to learn about the history of Kanazawa.

One thing did manage to put a smile on my face while visiting the castle grounds. One of the coat lockers for use by visitors had a wonderful English translation on it and I couldn’t resist taking a photo. I assume it meant the locker was out of order.

Immediately adjacent to the castle park was the Kenrokuen Garden. It was connected by a footbridge over a busy road. I was still struggling with the kidney stone pain, but I was keen to see the garden as I love Japanese gardens. Being seniors, we were given free entry, which was nice. The rain started coming down heavier. I saw a few people’s umbrellas get caught in the wind and blow out into all sorts of weird shapes. The trees, shrubs, ponds and streams all looked beautiful in the rain, but it began to get a little uncomfortable for us walking in it.

Kenrokuen translated means ‘garden of six sublimities’. It is based around three sets of contrasting elements. Spaciousness contrasts with seclusion. Artificiality contrasts with antiquity. And watercourses contrast with panoramas. The garden was constructed over 300 years ago, and it took 150 years to complete the ponds, streams, waterfalls, flowering plants, trees and teahouses. Many of the older tree trunks and their branches are supported in ways which are aesthetically pleasing. Despite my discomfort, I enjoyed walking through the garden very much. I think coming to a place like this can really put your mind at ease while you’re there, as your focus just naturally turns to the beauty all around you. Unfortunately, the rain became really heavy and we decided to turn around and head for the exit before we got really soaked. Thankfully, our bus pulled up just as we arrived at the bus stop. It would have been awful standing in the rain waiting 20 minutes for the next one.

I was glad to get back to the hotel. I said to Marg that I just needed to spend the rest of the afternoon in the room. I was still feeling really uncomfortable. Thankfully there’s a lunch place right next door and a shopping centre about 100 metres past that, so Marg, Theresa and Ian went out for lunch and Marg and Theresa were able to spend the afternoon checking out the shops. It rained most of the afternoon, and we’d ticked off the things we wanted to see on our list, so we all treated the afternoon as a rest day. Luckily I slept most of the afternoon and felt much better when I woke around 5.30 pm. Marg arrived not long after that with some ibuprofen and that seemed to do the trick. By 6.00 pm I was feeling good enough to join the others for dinner at the dumpling place around the corner. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’m over the worst of it now. At least, having dealt with it in September, I know what to expect and how to ease the discomfort. Now to turn my focus back to just enjoying Japan once more.