Takayama

October 29th

The Hidatakayama Onsen Hoshokaku hotel was traditional Japanese, leave your shoes at the door and there were indoor and outdoor big baths i.e. communal baths but we gave them a miss.

We had a Japanese dinner in the hotel all wearing kimonos but eating at lowish tables rather than seated on the floor. It is fascinating the variety of ceramic bowls for each place setting. We had local beef which was very high quality and which we cooked in water in a piece of folded paper heated  over a naked flame. 

On Sunday morning we had an excursion to Shirakawa village. It is about 40 km from Takayama and is covered by about 3 metres of snow in winter. The houses have steep pitched thatched roofs. The largest house is now partly a museum showing how it was used to farm silkworms,

On returning to Takayama we toured the former government headquarters of the Tokugawa shogunate who ruled the region for 200 or more years. Takayama also has an old town of a narrow street lined with old wooden merchant houses now mostly selling souvenirs. We finished the day with a lovely meal at a French style restaurant.

Our room in Takayama

Dinner in the Hoshokaku hotel

Fascinating array of food. Note the burner on the top left with a paper container on top of a naked flame.

Beautiful autumn foliage.

Thatched houses in Shirakawa.

 Many hands make light work of rethatching.

Raked gravel in the crest of the Tokagawa shogunate at the seventeenth century government house

 Kitchen in the government house.

More kitchen utensils and storage items.

Old style raincoats.

A beautiful garden at the government house.

Well groomed dogs strolling through Takayama old town.

 
This stall did a roaring trade in barbequed sticky rice balls.

Kanazawa

We have had very limited access to the Internet so I am a bit vague as to the date last Thursday but that was when we left Kyoto and went by train to Kanazawa, where we started out in the Geisha district -Higashi Chaya-gai which has been very tastefully restored. Next the Kenroku-en Garden begun in about 1620 and taking 220  years to complete. The snows will be coming soon so all the ropes to support the tree branches were in place. We had a full Japanese tea ceremony tea in a tea house in the gardens and finished the day at a modern art gallery near the gardens.

In the morning we went to the Omicho market which has been in existence for more than 200 years. Not surprisingly fish in all sizes are the dominant produce, but also lots of vegetables and some fruit including 5 bananas for 100 yen!. We also visited the Nomura residence showing how the Samurai used to live. Finally after lunch we set off by train to Takayama. We started in fine style on a bullet train - 18 minutes for 80 km. We slowed down after that, two more trains to cover the next 80 km. In Takayama we are staying in a Japanese style hotel. It is lovely but we cheated and ordered western style beds.

Road to nowhere. View from Shinkansen. Shin means new and you can see where the new rail line just cuts across existing roads.

Waiting at a change of train.

Omicho market

Higashi Chaya-ga

Kenroku-en Gardens

 

Dressed for the job maintaining the gardens.

School uniform in Kanazawa has a nautical look.

The area was previously famous for gold.

In one of the galleries of the Modern Art gallery next to the gardens.

Nail Head Cover in the Nomura Samurai residence.

Fine Sashiko hanging.

Enormous carp in the garden of the Nomura residence.

Persimmon

Beautiful fruit in the market.

Buying fish in Omicho market. They also sold enormous oysters at an enormous price nearly 2 dollars each.

Enough for today as I must go to bed.

Hiroshima

October 28

I have only had WiFi in the hotel lobby and crouching over the PC is difficult. On Wednesday we took the Shinkansen - bullet train to Hiroshima. It is fantastic One and half hours and about 350 km and so smooth. The business men in their suits with their takeaway meals in white plastic bags are omnipresent The take away are a lot better than Macdonalds. Incidentally Japanese coffee is excellent. From Hiroshima we caught a ferry to Miyajima island and Itsukushima Shrine. The island is over run with deer but the shrine is nice. Still too poor a connection to try loading photos so be patient.

 

Waiting for the Shinkansen to glide into place on the platform.

Designated smoking room on the Shinkansen

How to catch the ferry to Miyajima Island

The little ferry

One of the feral deer investigating me.

 School children enjoying a picnic lunch.

The Torii gate at the entrance to 
ItsukushimaShrine

Guardian dragon at the shrine

Everyone will be familiar with the Peace Park at Hiroshima  

Another day in Kyoto

October 25th, 2016

Once again we started with a train ride into Kyoto and then the subway to Shijo station and walked past a huge Daimaru store and reached Nishiki market - a long covered street selling mostly food, a large proportion of which was fish presented in a variety of ways. Near by was a tailors shop selling heaps of fabrics but I did not buy any.
Wyn and I found the bus back to Kyoto station. where we sat down to lunch and got  talking to the women on both of the adjoining tables and despite the limited common language we were soon swapping small gifts including a crocheted  Chrysanthemum brooch and a little patchwork purse.

 

Shucking clamshells

Fish of some sort

Variety of teacups

 1930s Harley Davidson was a change from fish

Not sure what sort of biscuits are being made.

A little Japanese garden near the market

Sign on the footpath

Heritage?

Kyoto Day 2 and 3

October 25th

Well yesterday we had a guide Sho(w)me  an appropriate name for a guide and with an all day train and bus pass we fitted in a lot although there was also a lot of walking. We made our way to Haian shrine which is an 1895 reconstruction of the previous building dating from 1100 years earlier. We walked around the beautiful gardens. More buses and trains and we reached Nijo castle built at the beginning of the 17thC as the residence of the Tokugawa shoguns. In 1867 the last shogun formally handed authority back to the emperor. (See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijō_Castle) No photos inside but beautiful interesting wall paintings. More buses, trains and Shank's pony and we headed for Kiyomizu-dera temple. There was a long walk up hill and when we saw a coffee shop. Wyn and I opted out and caught a taxi back to the hotel. Wise move as apparently the temple was heaving with people.

View from our hotel in Otsu

More autumn colour  at Haian temple

Entrance.

Still at Haian

Prayers at the entrance.

Gardens at Haian

Bamboo support for branches

Ground Cover

Not a Niqab, but traditional fireman's garb (cotton dyed with indigo which is fire resistant)

Fine Sashiko

Kiyomizu-dera temple

Not quite sure why everyone was dressed up on the way to Kiyomizu- dera.

Lots of souvenir shops around the temple