Friday
This was our last full day in Japan, and it ended up being one of my favorites. We packed up and checked out of our Airbnb and made arrangements for baggage storage with our hosts. They were incredibly accommodating, and actually offered to deliver our bags to the train station later in the afternoon, to get us a bit more time for sightseeing.
We made our way towards Kenrokuen, first walking through an outdoor sculpture park.
As we approached the garden, we noticed that we were once again walking on the outskirts of a shogun era castle.
Kenrokuen (兼六園) in Kanazawa is justifiably classified as one of Japan's "three most beautiful landscape gardens" alongside Mito's Kairakuen and Okayama's Korakuen. The spacious grounds used to be the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle and were constructed by the ruling Maeda family over a period of nearly two centuries. Opened to the public in 1871, Kenrokuen features a variety of flowering trees which provide the garden with a different look for each season.
We spent several hours walking through Kenrokuen. The grounds are extensive, and feature the fruits of many centuries of careful cultivation. Thankfully, the weather had cleared up for us on this day as well. If you have an interest in gardening, or just want to see the best examples of Japanese landscape gardening in person, try to make it to Kenrokuen.
We stopped for lunch in a teahouse in Kenrokuen overlooking a large pond.
In the middle of our lunch, a family from Brooklyn got the table next to us. They had children the same age as ours, and get this ... they had mutual friends! Our kids were thirsting for some American companionship as we approached the three week mark of the trip, so this was a welcome diversion.
As we wrapped up in the garden, we had a minor medical issue to attend to. Sasha has a mosquito bite that was showing signs of infection, so we had to improvise a bit. We got Sasha to clinic and divided up to send half of the party to a nearby cafe.
This was NOT the cafe, though it looked cool ...
After a bit, once it was clear that Sasha was going to have a significant wait at the clinic, I went off on an adventure with Natalie, Ronin, and Naomi to ... the Samurai district! Julie and Sasha would meet us there later.
Nagamachi (長町) was a samurai district located at the foot of the former Kanazawa Castle, where samurai and their families used to reside. The area preserves a historic atmosphere with its remaining residences, earthen walls, private entrance gates, narrow lanes and water canals.
One of the main attractions of the district is the centrally located Nomura-ke, a restored samurai residence displaying the lifestyle and artifacts of the era when samurai were prosperous. In contrast is the Shinise Kinenkan Museum, a restored pharmacy displaying the lives of the merchant class which rose in prosperity as the samurai declined.
I absolutely loved this area. The meandering alleys and gorgeous traditional homes, mature gardens peeking everywhere over the earthen walls. I suppose I was expecting something a bit hokey and fake feudal. Instead we found one of the most beautifully maintained traditional Japanese neighborhoods of the trip. This was also a great area for shops, including high level crafts like gold leaf and other Kanazawa specialties.
Julie and Sasha joined is towards the end of the walking tour, as we approached Nomura-ke, the old Samurai residence. The house included many amazing historical artifacts from the samurai era and the layout of the house itself was very interesting.
More than any of this, I just loved the garden ...
When we were done with Nomura-ke, it was time to head back to the train station to begin our journey back to Tokyo.
We arrived in Tokyo in the mid evening and made our way to our Airbnb.
Julie and I stepped out to a local whiskey bar before bed ...
