Tenth and eleventh days in Japan

Très japonais

The view from our room on Wednesday morning from the 14th floor of the Toyama Excel Hotel Tokyu 富山エクセルホテル東急:

Breakfast and the view of the city from the 15th floor windows:

Toyama 富山 doesn't hold a lot of interest even for Japanese tourists, but with time to kill we decided to see a little of what the city had to offer:

One of the very few online sources of information suggested visiting a prewar district of the city, so that's what we set out to do, hopping on a streetcar near our hotel:

It was suggested that this neighborhood was between Higahsi-Iwase 東岩瀬駅 and Iwasehama Stations 岩瀬浜駅, so we decided to alight at the latter and make our way on foot to the former. We passed by a statue of Tōgō Heihachirō 東郷平八郎 on our way to the beach from the station:

Like many Japanese beaches outside of Okinawa 沖縄, the quality of the sand and the water left much to be desired:

However, as we were getting ready to leave, a large group of volunteers appeared to clean up the beach, presumably in preparation for the summer break starting on July 1:

With little to see at Iwasehama, we relied on Google Maps to take us on a scenic walk to Higashi-Iwase, which it most certainly did not. We did learn, however, of the surprising number of Japanese Nobel prize winners who came from this region of Japan:

The neighborhoods we passed were hardly of the traditional kind, though there were some interesting things to take in along the way:

Feeling the 75% humidity:

Stopping in at a couple of local shrines:

It was only when we arrived at Higashi-Iwase that there was a map in front of the old station building showing the right route to take. Which, of course, wasn't the one we had just finished. Not wanting to try again in the hot, muggy weather, we returned to Toyama Station 富山駅, and had lunch in an adjoining building:

Amber and I both tucked into the Tsukimi Pork Hamburg set meal 月見トンバーグ定食:

I never would've guessed that the dream car of my midlife crisis would be found in a shopping complex close to Toyama Station:

Is it a Corvette? A Stingray? Try a Mitsuoka 光岡, and if current exchange rates are correct, this could be mine for only around USD $40,000:

Japan, or at least what many people think of when asked about the Land of the Rising Sun:

The 2023 edition of the Fresh All Star Game (NPB's version of MLB's Futures Game) will be coming to Toyama on July 19:

To make up for not correctly locating the traditional neighborhood mentioned previously, I treated the girl to an unnecessary splurge on the Hokuriku Shinkansen 北陸新幹線 for the short ride to Kanazawa 金沢:

The scenery leaving Toyama...:

…and entering Kanazawa 金沢:

The view from our latest hotel room:

After checking in and unpacking, we went out on the town, where I rediscovered Mister Donut ミスド:

The shop is close to the entrance to the Ōmichō Market 近江町市場:

The Tsuzumi-mon Gate 鼓門, guarding the central entrance to the impressive edifice that is Kanazawa Station 金沢駅:

Our day concluded with an okonomiyaki お好み焼き dinner at a restaurant close to the station:

Sightseeing proper in Kanazawa commenced on Thursday morning via the city's Loop Bus, and all-day bus passes for the two of us. The bus crossed the Sakura Bridge 桜橋 while en route to our first destination:

And that destination was Kanazawa's premier attraction, the Kenroku-en Garden 兼六園, where we were welcomed inside by a local raven:

Amber stands in front of the garden's most photographed site, the Kotoji Tōrō 琴柱灯籠 stone lantern:

 

Photographing me photographing her in front of the Meiji Monument 明治紀念之標:

The highlight of the garden for me was the Seison-kaku 成巽閣, built in 1863 for the mother of a feudal lord. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed inside, with the exception of the rear garden:

The oldest fountain in Japan, dating from the mid-19th century:

Feeling famished after visiting the garden, for lunch we had jibuni 治部煮, a traditional local specialty of chicken meat, vegetables and wheat flour, and in my case washed down with a Kanazawa Beer:

Come dessert time, the girl beat the heat with a milk-and-matcha soft cream serving:

From the garden we crossed over to the Kanazawa Castle Park 金沢城公園. The castle was originally built in 1580 but was destroyed by fire in 1881. While I visited Kenroku-en during the Golden Week holiday period way back in 1991, I skipped the park as there wasn't much to be see there at that time. Since then extensive reconstruction work has turned the landmark into a sightseeing attraction:

The surviving Ishikawa-mon 石川門 gate dates from 1788:

The remains of the Momiji Bridge 紅葉橋後: 

From the castle park we crossed the road to a side entrance to the Oyama Shrine 尾山神社, first stopping to pay our respects to the kami 神 at a sub-shrine on the grounds:

It wasn't until we reached the main shrine building and saw the distinctive stained-glass entrance gate that I realized I'd also visited this site back in '91:

Hopping back on the Loop Bus, we next got off north of the Asano-gawa 浅野川 to visit (or re-visit in my case) the Higashi-chaya-gai ひがし茶屋街, a 19th-century district of narrow streets established for geisha 芸者 to entertain their wealthy patrons. The geisha are still there today, though most visitors these days go to stroll among the shops, many of which sell gold-leaf crafts:

Amber and I took a break to partake of some Kanazawa Pudding:

After returning to Kanazawa Station (thus completing the loop and getting our money's worth from the bus passes), and taking a short break in our hotel room, we went out for dinner at Oriental Brewery, located inside the station building:

A four-drink sampler to start the meal:

The meal we shared was also quite good (pizza, salad, fried chicken and dessert - chocolate fondant cake for me, gelato for the girl). Our evening ended with another look at the Tsuzumi-mon:

There's so much more to see and do in Kanazawa, a city that balances its past as Japan's richest region with the mod cons of the present day, but tomorrow (weather permitting) we'll be moving on yet again, to a more rural side of Japan. 

Until then...