Japanese Gardens and Samurai Tales.

On our next day in Kanazawa we had a guided half day tour with our guide, Hanari. This walking tour started at the smallest of the three geisha districts called ‘Nishi Chaya’ and we took a bus to get there. This district seemed to consist of just one main street with several very smart sweet shops where we learned about adzuki beans and mochi. I say ‘learned’, we didn’t really but we did get to taste some and gaze at how beautiful they all looked. The houses in these areas are all made of wood with the traditional delicate lattice screens of the Edo period. These allow in light and air whilst keeping the Geiko goings on private.

Next we moved on to the Samurai district which is called Nagamachi. These houses feature thick earthen walls surrounding the plot and black, ceramic roof tiles. The higher the wall, the more important the Samurai.

The main attraction of our tour was the historic Nomura House. I’d been looking forward to this as it’s a restored Edo-Period Samurai house featuring beautiful carved Cypress ceilings, sliding door paintings and some very fine examples of Ikebana flower arrangements. There are terrific views from indoor rooms onto the tiny, yet perfect Japanese Garden. This features a winding stream, waterfalls, a koi- filled pond, stepping stones up to the first floor, pine trees, lanterns and a 400 year old bayberry tree. This garden is very highly regarded as one of the best examples of a Japanese Kobori Enshu style garden.

We learned a little bit about Samurai life although it seemed that by this time they’d mostly become administrators rather than warriors as the Edo Period (1603- 1868) was a period of internal peace, stability and growth. Ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate, foreign travel was banned and there was a strict hierarchy of society divided into 4 classes: Samurai (warriors turned bean counters), farmers, artisans and merchants – who despite being the lowest class- were growing rich.

Anyway, that’s enough history and our tour was over. Our guide left us in the middle of the Kanazawa CBD which looked like Croydon in the 80s. She nipped into Starbucks for a coffee whilst we wandered off in the direction of our next stop, thinking we’d find somewhere slightly more traditional for a coffee. Big mistake!

Next up was the world famous Kenrokuen Gardens. Considered to be one of the top 3 gardens in Japan and amongst the finest in the world with its 3 Michelin Green stars. It’s pretty large and very crowded. By this time we needed four things: coffee, cake, toilet and a little sit down. But we were all hopelessly tired and unable to negotiate the useless map we’d been given. Eventually we did find a snack shack by the big lake. It was a little bit too traditional so we had to make do and mend. Jane had a beer, I had coffee and an ice cream and Enid ticked off Matcha from her food list by having a fairly bland Matcha Ice cream. Joyce meanwhile probably ordered some weird thing, as is her want. We did get a little sit down too and then found the facilities.

All needs satisfied, we could start to enjoy the gardens and they are very lovely. It was a good day to see them with blue skies, sunshine and some excellent reflections. In hindsight, Kenrokuen is simply a larger version of the Nomura Garden we’d seen earlier. It had all the same features just on a grander scale. Some of the pine trees are particularly impressive and we’d arrived at the right time to see the strange arrangements of ropes attached to the branches. These are called ‘Yukitsuri’ and are to hold up the branches to protect them from breaking under the pressure of heavy snowfall. Kanazawa gets roughly 150cm of snow on average per year. They even have things in the middle of the road that squirt out water to keep the roads snow free. Just near the exit of the garden a small queue had formed and naturally I felt inclined to go and join it. It was a queue to get your Insta picture in the prime spot with a backdrop of the lake. I rallied the girls but then we all got a little fractious and it was time to move on.

Next stop Kanazawa Castle. By now I was in a lack of carbs fug. I really should have just sat down and done a sketch but instead, with a bit of FOMO , I joined the guided tour with the others. A very nice older man took us round this restored castle. I wasn’t really listening by this stage but I did note that this was mostly a tour for those with a keen interest in stone work. We skipped the tour when it was polite to do so and walked back to our hotel for a well deserved rest. Later we caught a taxi back to Croydon and went into the Whitgift Centre for a fantastic pizza, followed by a leisurely stroll back via Mr Eel Head and the lit up pool.