Blogs from Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, Asia

2023_Blog 27_Japan April 16 Port of Call: Kanazawa, Japan - 55°F/13°C – Light rain in morning, sunny in afternoon – Wind: 25 mph Overnight we sailed up the western coast of Japan and into Kanazawa harbour this morning under a rainbow. What a pleasant sight but it does beg the question: Are we actually going to luck out and not get soaked again? Our excursion destinations today were to the Kenrokuen Gardens and Omicho Market. The gardens are reported to be one of the top three in Japan and are a masterfully designed landscape. There are many winding paths, ponds, streams, towering pines and flowering bushes. After a leisurely wonder through the grounds, we crossed over the highway to the nearby Kanazawa Castle Park. The castle suffered the fate of so many of its kind and ... read more

In the height of summer Honshu, Japan's central island, is hot and humid. So think of us traipsing from station to hotel and to wonderful sites and activities in Kanagawa and beyond in at least 36 degreee heat with 80% humidity in glorious full sunshine. At night it dropped to 30 degrees but humidity often increased. I note that when in Adelaide I refrain from outside activities when the temperature reaches 34 or 35. To adventure means to have fun, but also to be fit, eat salt lollies and keep hydrated and only stop for typhoons! Why did we head north in weather like this? Well, Jacinta asked our friends what activities they would like to do in Japan during their stay. She cobbled together our itinerary from their list and where we could find accommodation ... read more

Day 7 First, I need to clear something up. One of the readers of my travel blog pointed out that I had a "tone," which I didn't know I had. He or she read the previous posts, and concluded that I'm not really that happy in Japan. That would be very wrong and so I'm adding another picture, one taken at the Golden Temple, you remember, where the crowds of school children had my fight or flee instinct engaged. That place. Well, I wasn't as miserable as I might have sounded. I'm having a great time. Now on to Day 7. This was a travel day with a trip to the train station and a two-hour train ride. But we are old hats now and breezed through the process. Taking our seats in our not high-speed ... read more

We set off to explore Kanazawa Castle. We read that it was built in the late sixteenth century and was the home of the local shogunate ruler until the start of the Meiji Period in 1868. It seems that it has been burnt down and rebuilt about half a dozen times, including in the Great Kanazawa Fire of 1759. Most of the current buildings are a modern reconstruction of what the castle would have looked like in the 1850s. The exteriors of all the buildings are mainly stone, but the interiors are all wood, so it’s not too surprising that they seem to have had a lot of trouble with fires here over the years. The towers above the outer gates all have small openings in them, and one of the guides takes great pleasure in ... read more

The characters of Japan’s colourful history are larger than life, heros and villains, builders and destroyers, hard working people along with the elite and military classes. Understanding just a little has added a lot of richness to the sights we’ve seen. A shogun was the military dictator in Japan from about 1185 onward - akin to a generalissimo. The last 250 years of the shoguns time in power began in 1600 when a general named Tokugawa seized power and established his government in Edo (now Tokyo)....thus began the Edo Period, which seems to be a superstar period as least as far as the towns and historical sights we’ve visited so far. Or perhaps its just the period recent enough to have some artifacts and buildings left standing. The Edo Period had the hallmarks of economic growth, ... read more