Inuyama
At Inuyama we parked up close to the excellent 17th century castle where - for ¥600 (£3.60) entrance fee - we had our own free personal English-speaking guide who was very knowledgeable though occasionally hard to understand. We were especially impressed by the fact that the castle has no nails (except to hold down the floorboards) to ensure maximum flexibility in the event of an earthquake. Must work because it is still there many earthquakes later. Splendid from the outside and impressive inside.
At Inuyama we parked up close to the excellent 17th century castle where - for ¥600 (£3.60) entrance fee - we had our own free personal English-speaking guide who was very knowledgeable though occasionally hard to understand. We were especially impressed by the fact that the castle has no nails (except to hold down the floorboards) to ensure maximum flexibility in the event of an earthquake. Must work because it is still there many earthquakes later. Splendid from the outside and impressive inside.
Sheila and our guide
Sheila inspecting photos of every castle in Japan or maybe it just seemed like it.
We had a late lunch just opposite the castle - and then walked through the wonderful old town section which was full of ancient wooden buildings and rather twee shops, and a shop-front radio broadcasting station.
We also found an information shop where two very helpful ladies booked us on to the 6.30pm Cormorant Fishing cruise which the guide book had indicated would have stopped by this time of year.By Japan standards this was expensive at ¥4,600 for the pair of us (£27.50) but despite all the commentary being in Japanese (reasonable since we were the only gaijins present) it was an enjoyable and unique experience. Not sure the birds enjoyed being hauled up by the string round their neck, being forced to cough up their catch, and then being chucked rudely back into the water.
Inuyama Castle at night
Gujo Hachiman
To get to this delightful small town we took the toll road north from Nagoya and headed up through the low cloud and through the tree covered mountains via a great number of tunnels.
Gujō Hachiman is famous for its dancing culture and in August each year there is dancing in the street all through the night. Not just any old dancing but precise steps are involved and the dress code is a traditional robe and wooden sandals. Our ticket had included the museum as well as the castle and it was there that we watched two women demonstrating these traditional dances and encouraged some audience participation. One of the women spoke some English and after the demonstration she explained to us that she had been to England to a place near Cambridge called Cherry Hinton. This is of course where the Cambridge Folk Festival is held and which we like to visit, we think that she was part of a dance troupe dancing there.
The castle is of course located at the top of a hill and we walked all the way up, being under the impression that you could not drive there. So a jolly hard slog up to the top and a view from the top marred somewhat by persistent low cloud.
Now one of the problems about coming to Japan is understanding the signs and having got some hearty exercise climbing to the top of the castle mound we discovered that there was parking up by the castle but it was a one way system and the sign which we had passed probably told us this, we had assumed that all traffic was barred.
We decided we would overnight at the castle carpark where it would be quiet and there would be no passing traffic. The road up was very windy and at times it was impossible to get our little van round the hairpin bends in one go and as we approached the top a young man came running down the road and indicated that we could go no further. This road you will remember is one way so driving the wrong way back would have been hazardous but with hairpin bends it was impossible to turn around or reverse back. It transpired that it was the young man's delivery vehicle that had broken down and eventually he found someone already at the top to tow him up. What was so Japanese about this incident was once he had got his vehicle up he stood at the top of the hill and apologised by bowing to each of us as we drove by. Gomen nasai - sorry.
Now one of the problems about coming to Japan is understanding the signs and having got some hearty exercise climbing to the top of the castle mound we discovered that there was parking up by the castle but it was a one way system and the sign which we had passed probably told us this, we had assumed that all traffic was barred.
We decided we would overnight at the castle carpark where it would be quiet and there would be no passing traffic. The road up was very windy and at times it was impossible to get our little van round the hairpin bends in one go and as we approached the top a young man came running down the road and indicated that we could go no further. This road you will remember is one way so driving the wrong way back would have been hazardous but with hairpin bends it was impossible to turn around or reverse back. It transpired that it was the young man's delivery vehicle that had broken down and eventually he found someone already at the top to tow him up. What was so Japanese about this incident was once he had got his vehicle up he stood at the top of the hill and apologised by bowing to each of us as we drove by. Gomen nasai - sorry.
one of the many Samurai outfits on display in the castle
cold noodles and tempura vegetables
One of the great things about this trip is the food, most of the time we have no idea what we're ordering and even when we think we know what we're getting it turns out to be not quite what we thought. Here we thought we were ordering some soba noodles to go with our tempura but what we hadn't reckoned on was that the noodles would be cold.
This is a charming town, the old part still has rows of streets with traditional wooden houses and an open water supply running along them, the flow of water being controlled by sluice gates. Each traditional house has a red fire bucket hanging by the front door- a custom introduced after a large fire many years ago,
Gifu
From Gujo-Hachiman, we made the short trip to Gifu and went slightly round the houses trying to find a parking place, only to end up at a underground thingy with a height limit lower than us (2.5m).
We quickly found an above-ground alternative and then walked through an attractive little park (they do these so well in Japan) to what they call the ropeway which (for ¥1100 about £7 each) would take us up the mountain to the castle and bring us down again though it is possible to walk down. The views from the castle were excellent and - in the very far distance - we could see Mount Ontake blowing the smoke and ash which killed dozens of people in the previous week.
We quickly found an above-ground alternative and then walked through an attractive little park (they do these so well in Japan) to what they call the ropeway which (for ¥1100 about £7 each) would take us up the mountain to the castle and bring us down again though it is possible to walk down. The views from the castle were excellent and - in the very far distance - we could see Mount Ontake blowing the smoke and ash which killed dozens of people in the previous week.
The cable car or ropeway
Back at ground level, we sought out a 13.7m Buddha made from lacquered bamboo - very impressive - and his audience of acolytes who looked decently inscrutable.
Autumn colours at Hakusan
Gassho houses & forest drive
We decided that we would take the mountain route to the World Heritage Site village of Shirakawagō where we hoped to see some traditional houses.
As it turned out the trip was just as interesting as the village as it meant that we found ourselves on the Hakusan Forest Road where there was lots of rain and waterfalls but as we approached the summit of our climb (which had cost us about £20 in tolls ) we were rewarded with some spectacular colour as the trees took on their Autumn hues - the photos are amazing but still do not do justice to the reality, and well worth that toll charge. In better weather it would have been magical.
We decided that we would take the mountain route to the World Heritage Site village of Shirakawagō where we hoped to see some traditional houses.
As it turned out the trip was just as interesting as the village as it meant that we found ourselves on the Hakusan Forest Road where there was lots of rain and waterfalls but as we approached the summit of our climb (which had cost us about £20 in tolls ) we were rewarded with some spectacular colour as the trees took on their Autumn hues - the photos are amazing but still do not do justice to the reality, and well worth that toll charge. In better weather it would have been magical.
On arriving at Shirakawagō a helpful lad showed us to a parking space which was free as long as we ate at the restaurant - which we did, and enjoyed cold noodles and a very small amount of very tender beef (me) and cold noodles and rice with raw egg (Sheila) while sitting on a tatami mat
traditional gassho building where we had lunch
We then walked in the rain to the Gassho houses which are old thatched A-frame houses. These were very attractive, especially with their patches of rice paddy in front and street-side irrigation ditches with big fish in them.
There was also a Shinto festival going on here and we stayed for a while to watch a bunch of lads thumping brass bowls with wooden hammers, and then a four-man dragon giving us all the evil eye while a couple of devil-men looked on.
Kenroku en Gardens
Kenrokuen Gardens
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Noto Hantō
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We loved the Noto peninsula, very much a quiet backwater but with plenty of interesting sites. After spending a few hours at the beautiful Kenrokuen Gardens at Kanazawa we headed for the peninsula and stopped at the first place that looked promising for lunch and enjoyed yet another culinary surprise. In this restaurant you had your own gas burner in front of you and the meal you order is put in a pan with miso soup and you cook it yourself. Actually the woman behind the counter cooked it as she obviously thought we were too dim to manage ourselves. Gilroy had a pan of mushrooms and lots of cabbage and shredded carrots, with the odd bit of meat (chicken I think) with a bowl of rice. Sheila had more or less the same but without the mushrooms (we thought she was getting prawns but none were evident in the dish). It was - as always - delicious, and very light on calories, and as we saw a number of packets of something similar in the supermarket wonder if it was local to this area
Chirahama beach
Further north we stopped briefly for a ride along Chirihama Beach, Japan's own mini Daytona beach. In addition to the coaches trundling along the beach, there were also some rather fine sand sculptures.
Wajima
The market at Wajima
From our overnight stop at an onsen at Nishiyama we did the short drive to Wajima to experience the famous morning market where exotic fish, chillies knotted in rice straw, and designer jewellery were for sale alongside beautiful lacquerware at eye-watering prices. We bought lots of cheap stuff, but also an exquisite and expensive lacquer tray. We suspect we may now have a packing problem.
We walked to the harbour which was very busy with fishing boats, and then lunch in Wajima. This was another new experience - slices of raw salmon, and salmon fish roe, with rice with a bowl miso soup on the side.
Sheila's lunch salmon, salmon roe on a bed of rice.
After that fabulous lunch we headed further up the Noto Peninsula to look at the Shiroyone Senmaida rice paddies - a steep hill leading to the sea which has been terraced to provide some tiny - but flat - fields for irrigated rice. The publicity says these took 1,300 years to develop and it is certainly a lot of hard work for rather little land - a measure again of how mountainous this country is.
We were able to overnight at the michi no eki here and next day we were able to spend a few hours on Noto Island and admire the glass museum building - contents ok but architecture certainly had the wow factor.
We were able to overnight at the michi no eki here and next day we were able to spend a few hours on Noto Island and admire the glass museum building - contents ok but architecture certainly had the wow factor.
one of two fancy bridges to Noto Island
Amazing architecture of Notojima glass museum
Lots of reasonably priced glass too
Sheila enjoying a coffee in the museums coffee shop
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Japan Introduction
Our vehicle
Overnight stops
Food
Tokyo
Izu Peninsula
Western Honshū
Kyoto
Shrines & temples
Japan Introduction
Our vehicle
Overnight stops
Food
Tokyo
Izu Peninsula
Western Honshū
Kyoto
Shrines & temples
