"A long tunnel between the two regions and here we were in snow country. The horizon was gray in the darkness of the night. The train slowed and stopped at the switching station. ". The writer begins with these sentences Kawabata Yukiguni (雪 国), the "snow country", one of the most famous Japanese novels of the last century. Today, the comfortable Shinkansen (新 干线) filled with skiers replaced the steam train at night, but one is always surprised by leaving Tokyo under the sun suddenly find themselves, after a tunnel in a white landscape . After changing the train route is then a long valley where lanes along some of the ski slopes before reaching the plains of the Sea of Japan and arrive in Kanazawa (金 沢) the city of "rivers of gold".
The city has the reputation of being a small Kyoto. Like its big sister, she has in any case a stunning modern station. And as the city of Kansai (关 西), is primarily a lively metropolis, with its avenues, its neon lights and large retail. You will not be disappointed to find that too little concrete functional and aesthetic that is the essence of Japanese cities. But the city was also fortunate not to be bombed by the Americans during their campaigns incendaires the Second World War: it is amusing that Westerners often complain about the lack of traditional districts in Japanese cities, so they are largely responsible. Kanazawa has kept intact many vestiges of past centuries. My advice to travelers visiting the city to forget right out of the station parallel with Kyoto, which could disappoint.
Leaving the station you can reach the tourist areas down for about ten minutes the broad avenue that is facing you, to the intersection of Musashi. Halfway on the left is shopping street Yokoyasuecho (横 安 江 町), which includes shops "bobos" version Japanese: the bosses are often cultivate the style warehouse chic, bare concrete is a favorite: they sell accessories often disparate, ranging from towels to small dolls, whose only common point is that they are the taste of the owner, often a housewife who takes over shop for entertainment, and create his own little world, that earning money. That is part modern, and rather quiet city. At the crossroads, facing you is the town market, but you can also take right down the main avenue to the city which is the heart of modern Kanazawa. It is there that most shops and department stores.
The covered market Omi-cho (近 江 町 市场) offers local produce, in a friendly atmosphere popular. In season (February and March), the delicious giant crabs are the undisputed star. I've tasted good morning just delicious oysters cooked on the coals by a vendor who had installed a small barbecue. Fishes of the Sea of Japan are also considered, and that's why the city is one of the capitals of sushi in Japan. A small sushi restaurant run by a chef of almost 80 years, worth the trip for the quality of ingredients and creativity, including an eel seasoned with lemon zest and pepper. It is not uncommon for gourmets and businessmen make the trip since Tokyo or Osaka for lunch, like the "TGV Bocuse" of the early 80s in France. In addition to fish and crustaceans, the city is also famous for the quality of its rice and its Nihonshu called "Sake" by Westerners. Northeast of the intersection of Musashi are two famous shops: Fumuroya sells small cakes of wheat gluten proteins called Fu (麸), delicious if properly prepared, and Tawaraya sells traditional Japanese sweets, the sugar is powdered. In both cases, we buy as much taste, that the form of food, prepared with skill. This area is one of the merchants, and many shops are still in traditional wooden buildings.
After a visit to the market, you can reach the castle by small streets on the hillside. The castle of Kanazawa (金 沢 城) was one of the largest in Japan since its construction in the 15th century by the local nobleman, one of the largest in the country. However, he was burned several times, most recently in the late 19th century. In the great tradition of Japanese reconstruction after disasters, a wing of the castle, however, was remarkably restored with the techniques of the time in 2001. The diamond shape has forced the carpenters to work on the beams in an unlikely form, a technical feat.
Near the castle is the Garden of Kenrokuen (兼 六 园), which was originally the garden outside the castle. The Japanese love rankings, and decided that this park was part of the official list of the 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan (with that of Mito, north of Tokyo, and the Okayama). Japanese gardens are often small, but the latter, with its 10 hectares, the area of a large park in Europe. It is particularly famous for the support structures shaped umbrella (yukitsuri) venerable pine trees bordering the pond that they can support the weight of snow in winter without breaking the branches. It is said that the pond be used primarily to store water for the castle moat, and it was possible to empty a few hours in an emergency to fill the moat. The park also includes orchards, ponds and waterfalls.
The neighborhood near the park Kenrokuen is very nice because it is surrounded by greenery, which is very rare in the Japanese cities still cramped, where every space is used. The city has built in a garden a nice modern art museum, the museum of the 21st century (21 世纪 美术馆), whose star is a pool for walking underwater. Another impressive facility is a completely empty room with no roof, which allows you to admire the sky, often covered in the region. The museum, which was probably part of plans recovery of the economy in the 90s, offers a pleasant visit. It may not help wondering if this magnificent building, but very interesting, was necessary in a country already over-indebted.
Returning eastward, one can, after crossing the Grand Avenue shopping district to join the "Buke Yashiki Nagamachi (长 町 武 家 屋 敷). Like the district Yamanote (山の手) under the Shogunate in Tokyo, all the nobles of the region, then called "Kaga" lived in the city of Kanazawa. They were assigned a plot based on their income, a samurai means receiving about 800 m2. Surrounded by two small rivers, the place has kept beautiful streets with traditional walls surrounding the large estates. Even if the constructions, for most of the early 20th century, are not so old, one feels transported to some minutes in the age of samurai and geisha another, until a small van loaded to rubble, or a schoolgirl bellowing in his mobile phone comes unfortunately break the spell of the place.
To find the past, we can also join a neighborhood on the outskirts of the pleasures of the historic city. These include street remarkably preserved, including the famous "Higashi-Jaya," he must look in the right direction: one end is occupied by a barber shop of the 50 abandoned that breaks the spell completely, while the other end opens to a more aesthetic hill. These neighborhoods date from the 17th century, when Kanazawa was the richest provincial town in Japan, thanks to bumper crops of rice, more than the gold mines that gave it its name.
It remains cons with little trace of an original episode in the history of the region: The "peasant kingdom" of Ikko-ikki (一向 一 揆), when Buddhist monks of the sect of the same name and peasants have seized power in a clan weakened during a popular revolt, and established a republic tinged theocracy that lasted a hundred years until the beginning of the unification of Japan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Practical details
Access from Tokyo: Shinkansen MaxToki (Max とき) to Echigo Yuzawa (越 后 汤 沢) and limited express Hakutaka (特急 は くた か), 4 hours, about Y12410 (95 Euro), reservation recommended
Access to garden Kenroku-in: 8 to 17h in winter (mid October to late February) and 7-18 hours the rest of the year. Y300 per person (2.5 Euros). (English site: http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kenrokuen/e/ )
Access castle the garden is open the same hours as the Kenroku-in. The renovated wing of the castle (Hishiyagura) can be visited every day from 9 to 16:30 (last entry at 16 hours) Website English: http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kanazawajou/index_e.html
Museum of the 21st century: Open from 10:00 to 6:00 p.m. Closed on Monday Admission: Y 800 (6 Euros), site in English http://www.kanazawa21.jp/en/
Shop and restaurant Fumuroya (不 室 屋) lunch service from 12 to 14h and 14h of tea at 15:30 . Closed Sunday.
gourmet sushi restaurant Yasuki Komatsu (小松 弥 助), open daily from 11:30 until end of stock (often around 15 or 16 hours) Booking essential. Tel: 076-261-6809, Address: Ground Floor Apa Hotel, Ikeda-cho 2-21-1, Kanazawa (石川 県 金 沢 市 池田 町 二 番 丁 21-1 アパ ホテル 1F), priced around Y10.000 ( € 75) per person, closed Tuesday and Wednesday
Access from Tokyo: Shinkansen MaxToki (Max とき) to Echigo Yuzawa (越 后 汤 沢) and limited express Hakutaka (特急 は くた か), 4 hours, about Y12410 (95 Euro), reservation recommended
Access to garden Kenroku-in: 8 to 17h in winter (mid October to late February) and 7-18 hours the rest of the year. Y300 per person (2.5 Euros). (English site: http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kenrokuen/e/ )
Access castle the garden is open the same hours as the Kenroku-in. The renovated wing of the castle (Hishiyagura) can be visited every day from 9 to 16:30 (last entry at 16 hours) Website English: http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kanazawajou/index_e.html
Museum of the 21st century: Open from 10:00 to 6:00 p.m. Closed on Monday Admission: Y 800 (6 Euros), site in English http://www.kanazawa21.jp/en/
Shop and restaurant Fumuroya (不 室 屋) lunch service from 12 to 14h and 14h of tea at 15:30 . Closed Sunday.
gourmet sushi restaurant Yasuki Komatsu (小松 弥 助), open daily from 11:30 until end of stock (often around 15 or 16 hours) Booking essential. Tel: 076-261-6809, Address: Ground Floor Apa Hotel, Ikeda-cho 2-21-1, Kanazawa (石川 県 金 沢 市 池田 町 二 番 丁 21-1 アパ ホテル 1F), priced around Y10.000 ( € 75) per person, closed Tuesday and Wednesday
