kanazawa-kaga onsen

The next day, we awoke to snow, sleet and hail.

Breakfast for me were two doughnuts from Doughnut Plant (carrot cake with cream cheese and their black out (a very chocolatey doughnut).

Both were very moist.

Satoshi had two musubi (rice balls) and we both had coffee.

The nice thing about Kanazawa is that there are many underground walkways, so that if it is raining (or snowing), you can easily get around.

The underground walkways aren't as extensive as Osaka, but still very convenient.

After breakfast, we went to check out Kenroku-en (Kenroku Garden). This garden is one of Japan's top 3 gardens to see. The other two are Koraku-en in Okayama prefecture and Kairaku-en in Ibaraki prefecture.

But before going to the garden, right across the way from it is Ishikawa-mon (Ishikawa gate), there are turrets and storerooms and it is the only remnants of the Kanazawa castle.

It was my first time to see a moat frozen over.

Although this area has been restored many times, I was surprised to see that they kept the stairways traditionally steep, I still can't believe that samurai, with their long hakama (skirts) and katana (swords) ran up and down these stairs.

I had to hold onto the railings for dear life going up and down.

We then went across to Kenroku-en. A beautifully kept garden which used to be the outer garden of the castle.

I noticed many trees with ropes draping from their tops and figured it is to keep a lot of snow from accumulating on the branches.

From the garden, we walked back into the city and checked out an area with restored samurai homes called Nagamachi.

The streets here are very narrow and winding.

We didn't have any time to check out the insides of these homes, but it was fun to walk around their "neighborhood".

We then caught the train from Kanazawa to Kaga Onsen, which is about 50 minutes away.

The hotel picked us up and we were able to leave our things with them until check-in time.

While waiting to check-in we decided to look for lunch. Since it was after 13:00 and nearing the end of the year, pickings were very slim.

We ended up waiting almost an hour for lunch at Bengara-ya.

The woman running the cafe had run out of the simpler lunches (noodles and rice bowls), so we ended up ordering fancy chazuke (tea with rice) lunches.

In fact, this lady was running the place by herself and kept running back and forth like a chicken without a head and at one point had run across the street to fetch a pot of cooked rice!

I chose the ume (pickled apricot) with chirimen (small anchovy) toppings for my chazuke, while Satoshi chose mentaiko (spicy pollack roe)...1365 yen each.

Our lunches came with some nimono (simmered veggies), miso soup. There were also some toppings for our chazuke like tiny rice crackers, wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and shiso miso (soy bean paste mixed with perilla).

Despite the long wait, everything was delicious.

We then walked to the outskirts of town to see the Kutaniyaki (Kutani ware) kiln and gallery. Kutaniyaki uses a dish to "bake" its pieces in the kiln fueled by pieces of wood.

We were able to see the remnants of this kiln, it was a huge thing covering a hillside.

The volunteer guide (who was 80-something) said that his father used to be one of the artisans at this site and that nowadays pieces are fired off in electric kilns.

The gallery/kiln area was truly amazing to see.

We then went back to the hotel to check-in then quickly went back out to check out the oldest bathhouse in the area.

Ko-so-yu is a restored bathhouse dating back to the Meiji era.

They don't allow you to use soap or shampoo at this bath, just soak.

The area to disrobe is not separate from the bathing area like modern bathhouses are, so they give you a plastic bag to put your clothes in so they don't get wet from the steam.

Even though this was a restored bathhouse, it was a beautiful place with stained glass windows.

Dinner at the hotel was a disappointment, there was crab, but it was very "dry", Satoshi was also very disappointed with the meal which is surprising because he usually enjoys whatever he eats.

Not wanting to end this post on a bad note, I was fascinated with this huge tea pot objet at the JR Kanazawa station...it even had a cover!

Bengara-ya
59 Yamashiro Onsen Road
Kaga, Ishikawa
Phone: 0761.76.4393

Kutaniyaki Kiln and Gallery
19 Yamashiro Onsen 101-9
Kaga, Ishikawa
Phone: 0761.77.0020

osaka-kanazawa

The last time we visited Kanazawa was in 2010 and it was just to pass time until our train connection.

From Osaka, Kanazawa (which is in Ishikawa prefecture) is about 3 hours away.

We arrived close to 13:00 and luckily we were able to check-in. After unloading some of our things, we went in search of lunch.

Satoshi wanted to check out the Omi-cho Market, a huge shopping arcade filled with...seafood!

Since Ishikawa prefecture is near the Japan Sea, seafood is definitely abundant here.

Many vendors were doing brisk business as many shoppers were trying to prepare for the New Year.

There were many shops with customers lined up out their doors, but we decided to check out Mawaru-omi-cho-ichiba-zushi (a conveyor belt sushi shop).

Even though there was a small line, it moved quite fast because the interior of the shop is quite large.

You can eat the sushi from the conveyor belt, order the kinds of sushi you want (if you can't wait for what's on the belt) or order sushi bowls.

I ordered the kaisen don...1480 yen. This was just the perfect amount for me.

Satoshi ordered the omakase don...1890 yen, which he enjoyed very much.

After lunch, the rain came pouring down.

We had intended to see a garden but since it was raining, we didn't know what else to do, finally we decided to check out the Contemporary Museum.

But upon reaching the museum, we found out they were closed for the rest of the year...boo!

Cold and sopping wet, we flagged down a taxi to take us to the East Geisha district.

The roads are very narrow in this area and the taxi maneuvered scarily through.

Parts of this area reminded me of Kyoto.

After seeing this area, we caught a different bus back to the Kanazawa station area.

We bought some souvenir items for MIL as well as some sweets to try and headed back to the hotel to put these things down.

NOTE TO SELF: bring old newspaper on trips to stuff into wet shoes.

We then went in search of dinner and ended up at another conveyor belt sushi place called Sushi Tama.

Look at the size of this negi toro (onion with fatty tuna)...huge!

Even though we had sushi for two of our meals we enjoyed them both.

For dessert, we tried a sweet by Matsui, this monaka is in the shape of the Maeda clan's mon (family crest) and is filled with sweet bean paste. Apparently this sweet only appears in stores for the New Years, so we were lucky to be able to try this.

Satoshi wanted to try this...Ankoro, mochi (rice cake) surrounded with sweet bean paste. It didn't look pretty but he enjoyed this.

Even though it was a cold and rainy day, I think we did quite a lot (as well as eat a lot) for our first day in Kanazawa.

Mawaru-Omi-cho-Ichiba-zushi
28-1 Shimo-Omi-cho
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Phone: 076.261.9330
Hours: 9:30-20:00

Sushi Tama
JR Kanazawa station Kutsurogi-kan 2F
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Phone: 076.235.3238
Hours: 11:00-21:30

Matsui
JR Kanazawa Omiyage Annex

ukeian

Another item we found in Kanazawa were sweets made from the eggs of the ukkokei (silkie bantam).

This chicken's feathers are supposed to feel silky which is why they are named such and its eggs are supposedly the top rank in Japan.

The egg yolks are so rich and dense that you can pick them up whole with chopsticks!

We got the slice of castella (sponge cake) 242 yen (about US$2.42) each.

This was rich, not too sweet...mmm!

And the custard pudding...420 yen (about US$4.20) each.

Again, rich and delicious.

I can see why the eggs and chicken are prized in Japan.

Ukeian
JR Kanazawa Omiyage Annex

p.s. this ends my posts on Ishikawa prefecture, back to the kitchen I go! Have a nice weekend!

utsuwa chazuke

There was something neat that we found in Kanazawa...utsuwa chazuke.

Utsuwa means bowl/dish and chazuke is cooked rice with green tea poured over it.

Inside of this wafer "dish", the texture of the wafer is similar to an ice cream cone, are condiments like konbu (seaweed), bonito flakes, jakko (whitebait).

After removing the "dish" from the package, break it in half and put on top of your hot rice.

Pour over some brewed green tea or hoji cha (roasted green tea) and enjoy! (I used green tea)

We bought 2 types katsuo (bonito)/konbu (seaweed) and jakko (whitebait)/shiitake (a type of mushroom)...210 yen (about US$2.10) each. One "dish" is actually one serving.

We shared both over two breakfasts and loved the flavors. (This would definitely be nice during winter.)

After looking on the internet for information on this shop, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they have a counter at Hankyu Umeda. I hope to pick up more.

Tsukuda no Tsukudani
JR Kanazawa Omiyage Annex

asa-ichi and kanazawa

The next morning started quite early, we had a large breakfast featuring a soft boiled egg, dried pufferfish which was heated on a wire grill and other items (top left photo).

After breakfast we got ready and checked out raring to see the morning market. When we got there not many vendors nor customers had arrived so most of the vendors were calling out to us to come check out their wares.

This market is for locals as well as tourists, it was neat to see all the grannies chatting with each other.

We found a vendor selling dried fish and other dried seafoods, and picked up this dried tako (octopus). (top right photo). (I'll show you what I did with this in another post.)

One of the places Satoshi wanted to check out was this museum dedicated to Go Nagai (bottom right photo), a manga writer who is from Wajima. I think some of his works are Mazinger Z & Cutie Honey.

We paid 500 yen (about US$5) each for admission and what a let down (in our opinion). For one thing, no photos allowed, not even with the huge Mazinger Z in the lobby area.

There are some figurines and an area showing some of his cartoons but that was it, nothing more to see. Total waste of money in our opinion. (Though I did snap a photo of a little statue they had in the hallway between the two buildings of the museum, I'll show it to you on Flickr).

We did get to try some taikoyaki, these are round treats filled with things like sasagi beans, tiny shrimp, custard or sweet bean paste (top left photo). We tried the sasagi beans (black eyed peas) and tiny shrimp. 100 yen each. These were delicious, though we would've liked more shrimp.

Since we had some time before meeting up with our tour group, we popped into Chabo 3-chome for some coffee.

We liked the retro-feel of this place. (bottom right photo).

After coffee, we met up with our tour group and headed down the coast to Kanazawa.

Our first stop was a parking area called Togi. Here we were able to pick up some cider made with Oku-Noto salt...250 yen (about US$2.50)

We enjoyed the sweet salty combo of this. (top right photo)
At this parking area, we also saw the longest bench in the world...460.9 meters (about a quarter of a mile) (top left photo)

We also got some arare (bottom right photo), perfect for snacking on our long bus ride...350 yen (about US$3.50) and some squid-sesame senbei (crackers) 350 yen (about US$3.50, not pictured)

Our next stop was Ganmon (literally stone gate) and lunch. To see the stone gate we boarded a boat and took a 20 minute ride around the bay. 900 yen (about US$9) per person. (top right photo) Little boats can pass through the opening but boats as big as the one we were riding could only go up to the mouth of the entrance then had to back up, which is what we did.

Another thing we were able to see from the boat was the oldest lighthouse in Japan. Called the Old Fukura Lighthouse (not pictured), this structure is over 500 years old. Until recent years, this lighthouse was used and a couple of feet away is the new lighthouse.

After lunch, we passed by Hatagoiwa, a pair of rocks "tied" together with a large thick rope. (bottom right photo)

Our next stop was Myojoji to see their 5 tiered pagoda. The roofing in this temple complex is a technique called Kokerabuki. They use Japanese cedar or Sawara cypress and split the wood into thin boards 3 millimeters thick, 10 centimeters wide and 20-30 centimeters long.

They then layer these pieces, overlap them and fasten them with bamboo nails. By doing this, there is a gentle curve to the roof. (top left photo)

Our last stop before Kanazawa was the Chirihama Driveway. This is 8 kilometers of hardened sand that you can actually drive on.

Even our tour bus was okay on this sand. (bottom left photo)

It was a great tour.

At Kanazawa, we had some time to wait for our train connection so we checked out their omiyage annex and picked up a few snacks and some items to take back with us.

One thing we tried while waiting was the Okiagari monaka by Urata (top left photo), this sweet has a wafer shaped like a daruma (think Japanese weeble-wobble) and filled with sweet bean paste...105 yen (about US$1)

We also tried Suehirodo's Tamahime temari...157 yen (about US$1.57) This sweet is only made for Kanazawa's Hyakumangoku Festival (which was taking place the next day!).

The Hyakumangoku Festival commemorates Maeda Toshiie's entrance to the Kanazawa castle in 1583.

This sweet was steamed and filled with sweet bean paste. On top were some colorful fu (dried wheat gluten) and gold leaf. (bottom right photo)

We had a great time, I hope you did too, the weather was spectacular and we had lots to eat and see.

I'll share some of our omiyage (souvenirs) in another couple of posts.

Chabo 3-chome
2-47-1 Kawai-machi
Wajima, Ishikawa
Phone: 0768.22.5793

Urata
JR Kanazawa Omiyage Annex

Suehirodo
JR Kanazawa Omiyage Annex