JAPAN - KANAZAWA
We arrived by bullet train in Kanazawa on December 30th, the plan was to spend New Year’s in the nice “quiet” setting of this smaller city. Alice had another surprise for me (the first being the K5 hotel in Tokyo with it’s in room stereo, turntable and records). As we walked into the Kaname Inn, greeting us in the lounge was a pair of Garrard 301 turntables (for DJ use), McIntosh amp and preamp and a set of Tannoy vintage loudspeakers. Oh and a wall of LP’s. Things were definitely looking up.
There were lots of sites worth exploring in Kanazawa, but I had the feeling that we were all interested in relaxing and not doing too much… winding down for the New Year. Getting a restaurant to eat on New Year’s eve was a bit dicey, but our hotel came through for us.
On New Year’s day, the plan was to go out for a very casual, lazy walk through the Kenrokuen Gardens and the famous Higashi Chaya Geisha District. On the walk back to our hotel, Alice’s iPhone alarm warning went off and a split second later we felt the ground under us shake with an intensity that was frightening. The buildings around us rattled, as did trees and pretty much everything else. I guess the whole event lasted not more than a minute. It felt much longer.
We found out later that the epicenter for the earthquake was in the Ishikawa prefecture (the same one Kanazawa is located in) a mere 116 km from where we were staying. Of course we were never in any real danger. Our friends and families back home needn’t have worried, but it was a very scary and intense event. The aftershocks were another new experience, having our fifth floor hotel room shake and sway was nerve racking to say the least.
Once things settled down, the next problem to solve was how the heck we were going to get back to Tokyo the next day. All trains going into and out of Kanazawa had been cancelled. Assuming the worse, Alice got online and booked us a flight out of Kanazawa to Tokyo on the first flight she could book which was three days later on the Friday.
While we were stewing with the prospect of spending two extra days in Kanazawa, we could see on the train systems mobile app that trains were supposedly resuming the day after (January 2nd) at 3:00 pm. We decided to go for it, dispatching Maximilian and Solomon to the train station to “scope out” the situation. While we were waiting to hear from them we packed up and checked out of the hotel. In a short while, they texted that the trains were resuming at 3:00 pm and they were in line, so we needed to get over there.
If they hadn’t gone three hours early and waited in line, we likely would have spent at least an extra day in Kanazawa. It all kind of worked out in the end. The reserved train seat we had that was cancelled was gone, but we were able to find four seats (we were second in line). The train was jam packed with people, literally like sardines for most of the four hours to Tokyo. This was a high speed bullet train but it felt more like the Slow Train To Oxmox, stopping at train stations along the way to pick up otherwise abandoned passengers. I’m not quite sure how so many people fit on that train but the passengers, mostly locals were all polite and taking it in stride. Alice cancelled the flight she had booked and other than the aggravation and slight delay, we were back on track for the final part of our journey… Tokyo Part 2.
SHOT WITH THE FUJIFILM X-PRO3, XF 27mm, XF 35MM F2
KANAZAWA IN COLOR
JAPAN - Nagano
The K5 hotel in Tokyo was a lovely modern oasis in the bustle of the big city. The hotel had all of the amenities one needed. The big surprise though, was an in room stereo complete with turntable and records. It’s located right across from the Tokyo Stock Exchange so fairly central and easy to get to.
On December 28th we took a bullet train to Nagano, then a shorter ride on a local train to our first ryokan in north Nagano. Complete with tatami mats on the floors and the requisite futon bed (although ours seemed to be made with memory foam), it certainly was a lot more on the rustic side, but still very nice. Jinpyokaku Honten - @jinpyokakuhonten was just a short walk from the main event, the famous snow monkeys, located at the base of Joshinetsu Kogen National Park.
We were warned about snow and icy conditions, but as luck would have it, neither were a factor. The walk was a couple of km’s up the winding mountain. It was quite lovely actually, a lot of tourists but it was very manageable. And the adorable snow monkeys didn’t disappoint, not to mention the guy dressed in a tiger outfit.
On the walk down back to our ryokan, a women in a stall to the side of the road was cooking sweet potatoes over an open fire. We stopped to taste the local apples as well as a very tender sweet potato.. it was the best thing I had eaten in a day where the ryokan had prepared us a breakfast feast. It was simple and delicious. Memorable in fact.
After our snow monkey adventure we took a walk into town and discovered the wide range of onten’s (steam baths) that are available to the locals and the tourists. Lots of skiing is done up here as well (Winter Olympics anyone?). We stopped for a light snack bought a few treats at a local shop and headed back to our ryokan for a hot bath in the natural springs and a rest before dinner.
We only stayed in Nagano for two nights but it was a restful respite from the busy start to our holiday in Tokyo. If we had more time, there are so many beautiful towns in this area. Definitely worth exploring on our next trip to Japan. And I’ll definitely be back for more of those sweet potatoes.
SHOT WITH THE FUJIFILM X-PRO3, XF 27mm, XF 35MM F2
NAGANO IN COLOR
Next up, Kanazawa…