Kanazawa Weekend

Last weekend I went to the capitol city in my prefecture to hang out with a fellow ALT. I can count on a few fingers how many times in the past year I have gone down to Kanazawa without a work-related reason. I have kept myself happily busy up in the Noto where I live instead. However, I had a lot of fun this weekend and realized that there are in fact many interesting things I can do down there as well.

On Saturday we woke up early enough to head to the station where we met our "Rediscover Kanazawa" tour group that we had booked for the day. Unfortunately, when we signed up we sent separate emails so they put us into the separate groups.

After making puppy dog eyes and explaining we came together, they graciously switched our name tags to put us in the same group (which turned out to be a super imperative thing). The group headed with everyone to the bus stop, and then a community center. At the community center we ate a lunch that was prepared by several housewives from the area using local Ishikawa specialty ingredients and heirloom vegetables. They gave a silly quiz and explained each of the ingredients as we ate.

Sushi decorated with shrimp and seaweed, I was really excited until I found out they enhance the color.

After lunch we headed to the Higashichaya district. It is the one of the areas in Kanazawa with well preserved historical buildings and streets.  Higashichaya is specifically a tea house district, meaning full of places where geisha entertain their customers, and still do today. We walked around with the tour group for a while, but we were relieved to part ways with them after 5 hours. Feeling less restricted, we continued to explore the Higashichaya area on our own.

There are several shops that purvey traditional wares and even some that give you the opportunity to try your hand at making something, specifically gold laquerware items- Kanazawa's most famous product. We explored the shops, had tea at a cafe, and took pictures of the area until sunset.

-

A side street in Higashichaya. Pictured here is a shop which sells wheat gluten cakes which are generally added to soups. They are spongy, soft and a great source of protein, I always feel lucky on days when we have them in school lunch! A bundle of dried wheat cakes is hanging outside the shop, as decoration and tangible marketing.

There are a couple famous soft ice cream shops in Higashichaya. One of which purveys flavors such as Miso, and Soy Sauce along with the regular ones like Vanilla and Green Tea. I opted for a scoop of Strawberry and Bamboo Charcoal ice cream. Wait, what?!?!

A storehouse of gold, located inside one of the shops. Yes, covered in actual gold. Like everything else in Kanazawa. The name "Kanazawa," literally translates to "gold swamp." Kanazawa is famous for its gold leaf and gold item production. In fact, 99% of the gold leaf in Japan is produced in Kanazawa.

As I took pictures of this golden display in one of the shops, a kimono clad girl walked in to take her own pictures by the display. Coincidentally setting up an interesting shot.

This beautifully preserved street is said to be the most photographed street in Japan. It is a popular place to have period photo shoots and films.

Festive wagashi we ate with our afternoon tea before leaving the Higashichaya district. 

-

Next we headed to the mysterious "Secret Thai," for dinner. There is a restaurant serving Thai cuisine nestled in the back of a ceramic gallery and factory in the Samurai district of Kanazawa that is well-known among ALTs. When we arrived I didn't even realize it was the restaurant, I just thought my friend decided to take us on a last minute, night-time viewing of some ceramic! It was however in fact our dinner destination, which we even realized has no name. Even the front and back of the menus are completely blank. Upon realizing this I kept my eyes open during the rest of the meal, checking for business cards or any signs on the wall or posted outside as we left. Nothing.

Another special part of this restaurant is that you receive a member's key chain after your first time dining there. Then each time you go they stamp it. With each stamp, the menu you can order from expands! We had some delicious noodle bowls and Shiso Plum juice.

What weekend is complete without a solid round of puricula!

---

On Sunday, we went to a store by Kenrokuen where we did a wagashi (Japanese traditional sweets) making class! It was fun and actually pretty easy to craft the pastes into different pretty shapes resembling flowers.

Our workstation.

The classroom, outfitted with TVs all around the room to capture the teacher's techniques for easy viewing.

-

After we were done making some sweets, we walked down the street to a fair in honor of sweets! The previous night we saw a poster advertising the fair posted on a bakery door as we walked home. I could not believe my luck, that Kanazawa just so happened to be holding a Sweets Fair on the weekend the Queen of Sweets (as my dad has called me since childhood) was visiting.

30 different patisseries and Wagashi shops from Ishikawa were there with booths to sell treats to the guests. They also had tea ceremony and wagashi making classes set up as well as a large stage where different bakers did demonstrations throughout the day. It was so fun to walk through the plaza and see the different treats offered from each booth. Carey and I selected four items to split, and I got a little cupcake to go!

Strolling up to the Sweets Cafe.

Our selection of treats from left: a creamy chocolate pie with a banana slice concealed inside; a cake decorated with pumpkin cream; pumpkin dorayaki; and an apple pie.

My chocolate raspberry cupcake. Unfortunately, it got a little smashed on the way home

We ended our fun with a late Sunday lunch at the local kaiten zushi restuarant. We of course had the recommended Fall specialties and I ate Katsuo (Bonito) sashimi for the first time. I cannot believe how amazing it was! Katsuo is the fish that is used to make dry fish flakes which are used for flavoring and topping on so many dishes in Japanese cooking.