My first great impression of Takayama is Hida Takayama Kori Kori Beer. this is good brew and deserves to be imported to my house. More tomorrow night. There is supposed to be a pen shop around here and we hope to stop in when we get to the inro museum.

Kanazawa ranks in my book as one of the three most livable cities in Japan, alongside Kyoto and Nara. It is a combination of the modern and sophisticated, and coexists well with the past. Kochi is on my list too, and is there owing to familiarity and geographic location.

We had an entire day to spend in Kanazawa. That is not enough to do it justice. There is too much here; the culture, the people, the food, the history. Should anyone com e this way allow at least three days, excluding daily trips to Wajima or elsewhere, as needed to appreciate this great place.

There is a loop bus from the train station that can take you to many of the places in your guide book. That’s what we did with one side trip.

Our first stop was Higashi-chaya, the old geisha quarter. Despite what you may have seen or read, geisha were not prostitutes, they were entertainers. Trysts did occur but, they were not the function or goal of the geisha. You can visit several houses of which one, Shima, is a National Cultural Asset.

Geisha Quarter

Geisha House Garden

Geisha Quarter Interior

Geisha Quarter Interior

Geisha House

Geisha House Frog

Nearby is the Sakuda Gold Foil Store and Museum. This is a must see and prices are extraordinary. It will be hard to leave their shop empty-handed.
Miki is into parks so Kenroku-en is high on the list of destinations. This is a large park of great beauty and functioned as part of the entrance experience to Kanazawa castle.

Kenroku-en

Kenroku-en

Kenroku-en

Kenroku-en

Kenroku-en

Yes, there is a pen shop in Kanazawa. Actually, two and the other sells only modern new pens. This little shop in the Katamachi District has been around for awhile and does sales and repairs. As you walk in the front door, if you don’t watch your step, you will trip over a buffing wheel. The shop is attached to the living quarters of an elderly man and woman. Frankly, the shop is a mess and if you peek into their house, it is as well. I wondered how anything could be found there. We were greeted by the proprietor’s wife who said he was out to work and would not be back until the evening when, conveniently enough, they would already be closed. It was not clear whether they keep the door to the shop open for ventilation or to sell stuff.

They had a lot of 1970s Sharp Pencils (that’s Japanese for mechanical pencils Eand, they’re not made by the electronics company), and peeking out from until some boxes in the showcase were a few older Platinum fountain pens. There didn’t seem to be anything exceptional there but, you never know. An enterprising collector could make this the focus of an archeological dig or two and come out with some surprises.

Tokyodo

Tokyodo