Temples - lots of temples. And shrines - many, many shrines. And gardens - very beautiful gardens. I have all sorts of ideas now for how to renovate my garden when I get home. But I am just not sure how I am going to fit in the pagoda, tea room, scultured maple trees, rock garden and the carp pond, complete with gorgeous arched bridge.
Fortunately it has not been all temples and shrines, because frankly they do tend to blend into each other the first dozen or so. Japan still has some feudal castles and these were fascinating to visit, but because everything was made out of wood, fire has destroyed many of these original fortresses. While the current royal family is the longest direct line monarchy extant today, the history of feudal Japan is one of regular conflict between feudal lords for control of the Emperor. Although the Emperor occupied the Chrysanthemum throne, the real power was with the Shogun and the samurai warriors, hence the heavily fortified castles.
Japan has a lively arts and culture community and we visited a couple of galleries during our stay. I greatly enjoyed visitng the Kyoto Art Gallery which was hosting a 'Rinpa' aexhibition. The stunning blue irises against the gold background typify Japanese art for me.
I was less taken by Kanazawa's 21st century gallery of modern art, modern it may have been, but was it art ? Probably best I leave Tom to comment on that experience (though the wine in the gallery cafe at dusk was very welcome).
First of all, the gallery itself is a wonderful building, circular, with glass external walls, even the cafe/bar had curved tables. The exhibition was quite modern with some substantial works by a variety of artists from different parts of the world, suchas the swimming pool which coud be viewed from above or, via a long staricase, below and a wonderful tapestry made up of colourful bottle tops and labels, about 10 meters high agaisnt the gallery wall.
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| In the pool |
Kanazawa was our last stop before Toyko and in this coastal city seafood is the speciality. We visted the fish market and amongst the recognisable fish there were some strange creatures I have never seen before, and the largest crabs I have ever seen. Our meal at our ryokan that night included fresh fare from the market, including crab and a somewhat intimidating to eat sea snail, that was actually alright.
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| The fish market in Kanazawa |
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| Dinner at our Ryokan |
And shops! We have been restrained about shopping so far, not wanting to lug around more that we have to. So bring on Tokyo and shopping !!!
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