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Gold Kanazawa

"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

Kardas Dragon Instructions

Should we pity those who win elections?

In the chic and slightly vulgar to Akasaka, beautiful cars are common, often black and tinted windows. But I was surprised to have to give way to a superb Rolls-Royce white car which flooded the streets of disco music. It was led by a mature man smiling and eccentric. The doors were decorated with the slogan "Sumairutoo (スマイル 党) party smile. I later learned that it was "Mac Akasaka," the manager and sole party candidate who campaigned on the theme "Let us stop the mouth, smile, and be less stressed." Ideas more dangerous and less useful focused their candidate in power. But rather unfairly, our friendly Mac does not exceed the 1000 votes in a constituency also won by the Democratic Party (民主党). This group has obtained an absolute majority in the country, and for the first time in 53 years, the Liberal Democratic Party (自民党) will be permanently removed from power. Such an event would have caused great popular festivals in Europe. Yet the election night, there was no sign of joy in Japan.

The relative lack of Japanese policy affects thousands of foreign visitors. The latest gossip from the government are certainly not a topic of conversation, and generally, the Japanese little interest in ideology. Neither Marxism nor the ideal of a golden age of conservative Christian political traditions cements in Europe there are recipes. There is some degree both France, left and right, each with their elites and their classes: their rivalry sometimes recalls that between football clubs. This distinction does not exist in Japan. It would be completely incongruous to ask an artist if "left" or "right."

Yet it would be wrong to believe that the Japanese are too respectful of social harmony for political opinions. They even quick to criticize, sometimes cruel. In company or in their neighborhood, the Japanese like to comment and give their opinions, sometimes criticizing bluntly. This also extends to local politics: the first protests of the party in power have often occurred in the 90's when public opposition to questionable projects such as construction of dams on the last great wild river country in Tokushima prefecture (徳 岛), or the construction of a bridge in the French style in the heart of Kyoto (京都). Major corruption scandals, as the Lockheed affair in the 70s, also sometimes temporarily laid evil power, but he always knew, even in the 90s, to renew itself.

If the Liberal Democratic Party has retained power for 53 years, with the exception of a few months in 1993, is primarily because the country has been remarkably ruled until the mid-80s by effective administration working in symbiosis with the political and big business. All was not perfect in Japan from the late 80, but the country was prosperous, more egalitarian and very safe: something to be the envy of the world. The Cold War context was also very practical in Japan, a country that shares maritime borders with China and Russia, which has undergone the regular commando raids North Korean kidnapping of citizens on the shore of the Sea of Japan. The Liberal Democratic party, the guarantor of the American alliance, reassured when opposed adventurous diplomatically. There was also some form of alternation according to the weight of the various factions that gave an obligation of results: a mediocre team would very quickly drop his faction within the party. faction leaders and had the power to dismiss prime ministers. Another factor is longevity of the network "clients" of the parties, especially in rural areas: a member who was bringing its subsidization area was naturally re-elected. It was also a kind of redistribution: the major construction projects gave work to the workers, and farm subsidies improve the lot of less fortunate farmers. The party also extended his reign by his alliance with the Komeito, a Buddhist religious party which has an electorate limited but very loyal.

The system worked quite well until 1991, when a popular Prime Minister, however, Toshiki Kaifu (海 部 俊 树), could not pass a plan Reform may be necessary, because his faction had enough influence within the party. Another opportunity may be missed is the failure of the introduction of primaries in 1978. Before the resentment generated, the party soon returned to amicable arrangements to appoint its officers. The Liberal Democratic Party has also failed to use the popularity of Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006, with a liberal and moderate nationalist. Three prime ministers have followed since so chaotic.

If it took almost 20 years after the crisis began in 1989 that the Liberal party Democrats lost power, but also because the opposition has struggled to organize. Their parties did not necessarily pressure to become responsible when they were condemned to a permanent opposition, leaving free the individual adventures, and the waltz destructive egos. The Democratic Party is thus only formed in 1998 from the merger of smaller opposition parties, and exists in its present form since it was incorporated in 2003, dissidents from the ruling party.

This probably explains why the arrival in power of the Democratic party does not raise the enthusiasm of the crowds, the party has not always a clear ideology, and it has a power structure complex: Yukio Hatoyama (鸠 山 由 纪 夫) will be Prime Minister, Ichiro Ozawa (小 沢 一郎), a former dissident from the other side, is now the real master in the shadow of the party. Its leaders are also largely from the middle of Japanese politics: Yukio Hatoyama is the little son of a prime minister, the son of a minister of foreign affairs, he is also affiliated with her mother to the family of industrialists Ishibashi (石桥), owners of the Bridgestone brand. It is understandable why most Japanese, even if they voted for the opposition, were very skeptical about the program of the Democratic Party. It also promises to many voters, not necessarily explain where the money will come in a highly indebted country: the debt of the state are almost 200% of GDP, more than twice the ratio of French. Another factor is the power of skepticism that will keep senior officials largely responsible for current policies. The new government will need these bureaucrats to govern, because most ministers will lack experience in their field. Succeed in changing the senior public without alienating probably require political finesse.

With all these reservations, the alternation is a great event. If neither of the two major parties imploded, a risk always present, Japan has a mature political system, with two governing parties alternating in power, qu'Ozawa wanted since the early 90s. This is the most effective system in all major democracies, and it will be probably also in Japan.

Many believe that the new government has correctly identified the weaknesses of the country and he promises to strengthen the Japanese social security system: it is very incomplete and requires individuals to many save in cases of hardship, limiting consumption. Besides the tragic human consequences in some cases, this makes the country too sensitive to exports: thus, this year the Japanese economy will contract by more than 6% when France will suffer probably less than 3% of recession. The cost of raising children, only partly supported by the state, is also a barrier to having children. Funding for this new social protection is not at all assured: the promise of savings based on the elimination of wasteful current government seem very random. On some points, the proposed policy is not easy to understand: the new government wants green, but proposes to lower the fuel tax, and abolish the toll highways.

The success of these reforms is not necessary certainty: the history of Japan is due to downturns in the past, and thus slow relative decline, followed by phases of rapid and effective reforms, often after a humiliation National. These changes were never the result of popular uprisings, but have always come from some far-sighted of the elite. Next year, China should overtake Japan to become the second largest economy, it could ECT be that the country needs to decide to modernize.

Japanese Election Results (over 480 seats, an absolute majority to 241 seats)

Majority

Democratic Party of Japan: 308 seats (+ 195)
Social Democratic Party: 7 seats (=)
New Party Citizens: 3 seats (-1)

Opposition:

Liberal Democratic Party: 111 seats (-177)
New Party "Komeito": 21 seats (-10)

independent parties: Communist Party
Japanese: 9 seats (=)
Party everybody: 5 seats
Independents: 8 seats

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