Tokyo to Kanazawa

The Trees are turning

Chefs at Oink-Oink

We left Tokyo taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kanazawa. This is a brand new Shinkansen route and we were excited to be able to use it. We realized when we were about to board the train, that somehow we had lost all our subsequent train tickets. After a frantic search, we decided that we didn’t have them and possibly we had left them in our hotel in Tokyo. We felt like fools, but emailed Nancy, who gathered her troupes, contacted The Palace Hotel and eventually relayed to us they had found the tickets in our room. Our bad. They will be expressed to us in Kanazawa and we will have them tomorrow. We really appreciate what Nancy did to get our tickets back!

Kanazawa is a city of about half million people located directly on the Japanese Sea. It is often cold and rainy. Today was no exception. After arriving at our hotel we went out for a warm lunch. The restaurant was definitely not up to what we like, but the view of the turning of the trees from the restaurant made up for it. The fall colors are amazing. We returned to the hotel and Cathy took a nap while I walked around exploring the city. The Hotel is located in the old Samurai area. In World War 2, Kanawaza was not bombed and many old homes still exist. The streets are narrow and windy; many of the first floors have been converted to bars, restaurants and shops. It is all quite charming.

I returned to the hotel and Cathy and I took off for the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa. This is a huge modern art museum. It was designed by Kazuyo Sejima+Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA, who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The museum itself is very disorienting. It has no formal front or rear entrance and the galleries are intentionally hard to find. You simply stumble upon the art. We loved the museum and the art. They have one particular magical installation, which is a pool that has been constructed so that when you look into it you see people on a floor beneath you that appear to be moving underwater. It is great!

After touring the museum we returned to our hotel and decided to go out for a drink. We decided to aimlessly wonder through the narrow streets of the Samurai Quarter, until we found a bar. We eventually found a wonderful Italian restaurant it was perfect. Called Oink-Oink it specializes in pork dishes. We will return.

Later we went to 1 star Michelin restaurant: Zeniya. This was a fantastic restaurant, highlighted by the fact that the Chef Shin-ichiro Takagi, speaks perfect English. He explained each course to us. Like most high-end restaurants in Japan, this one is very small, a counter with about 10 seats. The chef, behind the counter explains each dish as he prepares and serves it. This was a fantastic meal. Two bottles of Sake later we returned to our hotel. Kanazawa didn’t seem quite as cold.