Splendors of Japan

Day Six – 16 May 2014

Kanazama!

Weather: Sun and cloud, 20

Ah, the forecast is for at least four days of sun and warm temps. I managed to get a full eight hours of sleep. Luggage was out for 8:30 and we were all in the lobby early. I was sitting down when a full class of American students sat down with me and I listened to a 16 year old ask his friends if all the countries in the world had easy abbreviations like U.S.A. and U.K.

I said “Hi, I’m from C.A.N.A.D.A.”

LOL

The teacher started counting and when she came to me, I just smiled as she was obviously trying to remember if I was one of the students.

We went out to explore our new bus and it’s another 40 seater that is a little swankier than the last one. Slightly bigger seats, cushier and tray tables! Sweet.

As we pulled out, Kimiko told us to look outside where the staff were assembled to wave to us. She said they would wave until we were out of sight and sure enough, we waved to them until they disappeared from sight. One of them even crossed the street to get a better view of the bus as we approached the corner.

Kimiko added some information to yesterday’s visit to the float museum. Someone wanted to know how the floats could turn corners with four fixed wheels. Kimiko brought out another pictorial representation and said there was a hidden third wheel that drops down and is perpendicular to the others so that it just moves sideways.

She also said that some travelers are a little disappointed not to see more women in kimonos. She said that it simply isn’t practical because there are so many layers and belts that it makes it hard to go potty. They’re also very expensive. If I heard right, about $6000 for a real silk one. She said the kimonos are handed down from generation to generation and that she has several from her mother. Since Kimiko doesn’t have kids, she is giving them to her nieces. She also said that most women hold on to one for ceremonial purposes like weddings.

She noted that both males and females fold the left side over the right. Doing it the other way isn’t polite. It’s how they dress the dead. She said that cremation is the law in Japan and that people will wear kimonos and other personal items like watches when cremated so that they can take it to the next life.

Hopefully, the watchmaker brings along some batteries.

We enter the Hida Tunnel again – the second longest tunnel in Japan. We are headed to Shirakawa, a village of traditional thatched roof homes. Now, you might be thinking that you’ve seen thatched roof houses before, but never is such a scenic setting. (Unless you’ve seen them in Switzerland somewhere).

The village is fairly isolated and we pass through a number of tunnels to get to it. So, if you’re like one woman on my Iceland tour who was phobic when it came to tunnels, be warned – there are dozens of tunnels.

Shirakawa has about 110 homes. It used to have 300, but the population is declining and some of the homes were flooded out from the construction of the dams. The area gets a lot of snow (roughtly 3 metres a year…which to me isn’t a lot of snow….10 metres is *a lot* of snow…lol) so they have roofs with a 60 degree pitch so that the snow will slide off easily. The thatch is made of a material that has natural oils that mean it is resistant to moisture and the roofs can last 30-40 years. When it’s time to replace the roof, the community would get together and reroof a house in a single day as seen in this photo of a photo.

The roof is actually an equilateral triangle and the sides face the east and west so that the sun will keep the attic warm (where they used to grow silkworms). It also means the face of the roof is facing the north and south prevailing winds. The roof isn’t actually solidly connected to the rest of the structure. The bottom ends of the poles are beveled and sit on the bottom structure so that the roof can sway in high winds and in quakes. There are no nails. They use a rope and saplings to tie the wood together and it would expand and contract as necessary.

There is no chimney in the homes and the smoke from the central hearth simply goes up where it acts as a fumigant (which was great when they grew silkworms). The soot from the fire also strengthens the wood and rope.

Later in the day, Kimiko showed us a video where a young resident went about recruiting locals and a preservation organization to help replace a roof. In the end, almost 500 people showed up and the roof was done in 8 hours. The cost of the roof is about $2 million but the government covers 90% because the area is a UNESCO world heritage site and they want to preserve the homes.

Our first stop is at a lookout over the town where our group photo was taken. The back row stood on benches and if someone in the front row leaned back, the back row would have taken a shortcut to the village below.

Kimiko gave us a few minutes to take photos and browse the shop before we headed down to the village. She gave us a map (complete with her happy face drawing) and she highlighted the main streets. Buses are not allowed in the village but it’s a short walk across a concrete swinging bridge. Kimiko gave us some directions and an hour to walk the streets. With the sun peeking out from the clouds, it made for a great hour of photo-taking. Just as with the wasabi farm, there were locals everywhere doing water colours. Some of the work was outstanding.

I walked to the far side and back with a soft serve ice cream and two cameras in my hands. I saw one dog and one cat. And a bird.

Yeah. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of birds here at all. So few that when I see one, I notice it.

Back on board, we headed to lunch at one of the thatched houses overlooking the village. One of the homes next to it had a brand new roof. I wonder if the inside has that new thatch smell.

Lunch was another mini-BBQ and while everyone else got char, I got another serving of delicious beef.

After lunch we headed for Gokayama, a small, isolated community nestled in the hills with a large river running through it. We went through a number of short tunnels and over several bridges to get to it, so you can imagine how isolated it was before concrete and backhoes.

We visited a house where we were treated to a different type of tea (nicer than the green tea) and the man of the house talked about the house, the community and more. He told us that silk used to be an industry in the area but the Depression collapsed it almost overnight.

And since the Shogun banned contact with the outside world until Commodore Perry came along, the supply of gunpowder was limited and therefore made locally. In this house, it used to be was made in a pit next to the entrance. Kinda like having a meth lab in your basement.

And they are famous now for making the Japanese washi papar which can last a thousand years.

After his talk, he demonstrated a dance that was almost forgotten but one woman who performed it was discovered and the dance taught to more people. He used an unusual instrument that is related to the tools used in their work.

When we were done, we could walk around the house and climb into the attic. Afterwards, I walked out to the street and checked out the bridge across the street which crossed the river. Gorgeous spot.

From here, we drove to Kanazawa. The city has about 440,000 people and is located on the coast of the Sea of Japan. It was a castle town that the Shogun worried about but the lord in charge proved his loyalty by not spending his money on weapons but on culture. As a result, the area is a centre for the arts and is famous for its handicrafts.

Kanazawa (which means Marsh of Gold) also produced 99% of Japan’s gold leaf. Our first stop in Kanazawa is to a gold leaf factory where they showed us how they produce the leaf.

He showed us a 1 kilogram bar of gold (that was just sitting there on the shelf, minding its own business) and said they roll it out until it’s 30 feet long. Then a 6 cm portion is hammered until it’s 10 cm across. Then ¼ of that is hammered until it’s 15 cm across and so on until it is 1 micron thick.

It’s hammered again and then laid between sheets where it is under pressure for 3 days. In the end, the leaf is 1/10,000 mm thick. So thin, you can see through it. It’s like taking a dime and hammering it until it’s the size of a tagami mat (180x90cm). When they cut it into neat squares, there is leftover pieces that they eat, put into drinks or candy or into lotion.

While we were there, two employees worked to remove thin pieces of gold leaf and transfer them to another sheet. Tedious, tedious work! I took a video of the woman responsible for cutting the ragged pieces into neat squares and piling the edges into a box. She could repeat this process hundreds of times a day.

From here, we were let loose on the shop. My first stop was at the washroom where the entire room is covered in gold leaf.

I know what you’re thinking….a little scraping can buy you dinner.

Well, from the reasonable prices in the shop, I’d say you’d need to do a lot of scraping. I bought a gold leaf depiction of Mt. Fuji and a gold cat for under $40.

As we waited outside, a local approached us with two small dogs on a leash wearing Hello Kitty shirts. Someone in the group said, “Okay everyone…on three now…one….two…three”

At which point the entire tour says “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

We did it in a way that indicates we all thought the dogs were adorable. The girls was smiling ear to ear.

Kimiko led us down the street and said it was one of three geisha districts in Kanazawa. She said they actually call them geiko.

But I don’t think they sell insurance.

And no, she clarified the one thought in everyone’s head…geisha are not prostitutes. They are artful entertainment.

At one point, we passed one geisha house where we could hear singing and we stopped to listen. Kimiko said they were in school.

We have a highlight dinner tomorrow night with a geisha, so I’ll have more to say on that then, I imagine.

It was a short drive to our hotel which is conveniently located on a shopping street. There’s a department store across the street with some restaurants on the eighth floor and another food stall extravaganza in the basement. There’s also a McDonalds and Subway down the street. I picked up a sub and went back to my room. It’s a nice hotel and like the last one, the bathroom is a pre-fab unit. It has a kettle, wifi, BBC (which we are all getting sick of given that it plays the same stories over and over and over!). The only thing the room doesn’t have is a safe, but we’re only here for the night, so that isn’t a problem.