The next port of call (literally) was Kanazowa, bordering on the Sea of Japan. The first two pics were taken from the train and again show just how densely packed the houses are...I don't think a lawnmower business would do very well...
One of the highlights of Kanazowa are the Kenrokuen Gardens, supposedly one of the most famous landscaped gardens in Japan. Some of the features were completely exquisite and totally beyond my feeble attempts to capture them on film, but the link and the following shots give just a flavour of the place...
Alyson on one of the many stone bridges spanning countless small rivers...
....with a view of one of the main lake, complete with landscaped features.
At the top of the hill, there was a large statue of the Buddha, beside which was a vast pine tree of some description where the branches were supported on wooden poles...
...with another enormous tree, similarly supported, close by. Note the deliberate 'exposed root' style of growth, where the small tree has been planted on a mound and over the decades, the soil has been gradually scraped away to reveal the roots, which then harden off.
We also paid an early morning visit to a Geisha district...
...before hordes of tourists descended. Note also the deliberate and complete absence of electrical poles, which are...
...one of the more unpleasant features of any town or city in Japan. Being prone to earthquakes, I suppose it's a 'good thing' to know where all your power lines are in case any of them come down in a 'quake and probably also much easier to fix in the event of one of Mother Nature's little grumbles.
An interior of one of the geisha houses is shown, which is still a working business. There will be more about geisha later in the Kyoto post, but suffice to say that hiring one of these ladies to entertain for the evening is not for the faint hearted. Even more so if it's the end of the month and you're a bit short of cash as you'll need to stump up 60,000JPY...
...per hour!
One of the rooms in the house contained a display case of of the many types of combs that a geisha requires in order to effect their elaborate and traditional hair arrangement. I took this picture and really didn't think too much about it until I saw a shop in Kyoto later that specialised in geisha combs...a 'simple', two prong, black lacquer comb with extremely delicate inlay was for sale at a very modest price of 460,000JPY.
There's also a very good Samurai district in Kanazawa and we paid a visit the the Nomura household, where the original armour of it's owner can still be seen in glass case.
The house also had one of the most delightful and tranquil small gardens of any that we saw in Japan.
Finally, London isn't the only place...
...with Boris Bikes, but these are a bit smaller!
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