Gardens, Geishas and Missiles

Kanazawa, Japan

August 6, 2009

I missed most of the cruising of Kanmon Strait, the narrow passage between Honshu and Kyushu Islands, because it happened too early. I must be the only senior citizen ever who does not get up at dawn. Jim, who does get up at dawn if not before, said the shoreline was a mixture of commercial, residential and beaches.  The Captain said we would now power along the dramatic coastline to our destination, Kanazawa which is straight across Central Honshu from Tokyo. And what did we see? Nothing. The marine layer settled in and once again we can’t see a thing. Oh, well, out of Francisco’s path and those 12 meter swells.

But not out of the unrelenting heat. It looks like we’re in for more of it in Kanazawa.

According to my guide book, Kanazawa  was shielded from outside influences because of its location. For the 300 years between 1583 and the 1800s it was under the firm rule of the Maeda lords. While most of Japan was unstable, this area became the richest domain in the country, the wealth encouraging cultural development. Ironically, this lack of industry meant it escaped bombing during WWII.

It is also the location of Kenroku-en Garden, one of the Japanese “great three” gardens. Established in 1603 it was originally the outer garden of the Kanazawa Castle, home of the Maeda lord. However it was all destroyed by fire in 1759. Mitsui, today’s guide, explained that this area is notorious for thunderstorms in the winter so many buildings are hit by lightning. The Castle is on the highest point in the city so was its very own lightning rod. Today only the walls and the main gate of the castle remain, but over the centuries the various Lords kept tweaking the garden until it became the strolling-style landscape that it is today.

Kenroku-en Garden means “garden of six qualities,” desirable in Chinese gardens: spaciousness, seclusion, air of antiquity, ingenuity, flowing water and views. It’s 25 acres close to the center of the city, but once you walk up the steep path from the street, suddenly you’re aware of only the lush green beauty all around you. We only had an hour, but just by walking around the main pond (more lake-sized than pond) you could check off all of the desirable qualities. Nothing was blooming in mid-August, but there was every shade of green and every texture. Look in any direction and the view was compelling. 

As before Mitsui steers us towards little cafes or vending machines for water. It’s 99 today, “feels like” the hinges of Hell. One of the cafes in the garden also featured Shave Ice and ice cream. I was all set for a bowl of shave ice with melon or mango, but that was only for in-cafe dining so I stepped over to the ice cream line delighted to find soft serve green tea. In the interest of science I continued my green tea ice cream survey. Still delicious! Definitely miles above Halo Green Tea with Tapioca. 

At one time there were hundreds and hundreds of samurai living in the area. All of their houses were destroyed when the feudal system was also replaced leaving just the old gate and wall that was around the ancient houses. We visited a reproduction of the house of the Nomura family. It looks just as you’d imagine—floors covered in grass mats (we had to remove our shoes before entering), rooms separated by sliding paper doors and everywhere beautiful landscape drawings. There isn’t any furniture in the house, but that would have been minimal in any case; futons for sleeping that were rolled up during the day, wooden trays for food that would’ve been stacked elsewhere when not in use and simple boxes for their clothes, just a few kimonos. Although the house isn’t original, the garden is. It’s as if the Kenroku-en Garden had been miniaturized and placed inside the walls of the property. It has all of those elements and is highly honored as such. 

Our last stop, the Geisha district. At one time there were dozens of Geisha houses, but now there are just three with a total of thirty or so Geishas. They are still highly trained and educated to sing, dance, play an instrument and converse with intelligence and wit. They are not prostitutes. The men who visit the Geishas are a select group. You must be invited by one of them. Traditionally the men are billed twice a year by the Geisha houses. If one of them invited someone and that person doesn’t pay his bill, the inviter must cover his charges. The visits last just 90 minutes. Mitsui said any longer than that, the men would  have had too much to drink and would behave badly. She giggled as she told us that so who knows if it’s true, 

What I do know is that the Geisha district is just a bunch of narrow streets with souvenir shops and ice cream shops that sell cones cover with gold leaf. Not at all worth the time and walk in the mid-afternoon heat.

Mitsui has three adult children. Her two daughters are married and both teach English. Her son is 28 and still living at home. She said he has a good job but no girlfriend. Traditionally adult children stay at home until they marry, with Mom fixing their meals and doing their laundry. Many groans from the moms on the bus. Mitsui said she was ready for her son to leave and didn’t anyone know any eligible young women in Japan?

Absolutely whipped, we didn’t get back to the ship until nearly 4 o’clock. Waiting in #117, a full ice bucket and several liters of Evian. Time to re-hydrate and shower before dinner. Tonight an all-female Japanese Taiko Drumming group is performing, a nice change from the “try hard” Vegas lounge singers that seem to be on every cruise. The drumming group was amazing! Physically they were all petite women but, girls got guns! They hit those drums at a frantic pace for close to 45 minutes. What a good way to drive away any frustrations. I wish they could stay with us for another show but we’re leaving Japan tonight.

Because we’re leaving Japan we have to once again have a mandatory face to passport inspection by Japanese immigration officials. Once you’ve gone through the process you cannot leave the ship even though we’re in port until 10 pm. So we dutifully line up, have our ship cards scanned then passport inspected and visa (we were given 3-month visas when we got to Japan) stamped with the exit date and then hand over our passports to the ship’s representative so the Russian officials can inspect them before we go ashore in Vladivostok, two days hence. 

Plus Francisco is still out there getting ready to curve around and head northeast over Kanazawa. As soon as all passengers have been cleared by Japanese immigration and the drummers are off the ship, we are leaving, about 10:30 pm. 

Tomorrow is a sea day. We are scheduled to dock in Vladivostok at 6 am on Thursday. Instead, the Captain has gotten permission to arrive at midnight, Wednesday so we can take shelter from the storm. To cover the distance, all engines are running at full tilt, averaging 20 knots per hour. He apologized for any vibration we might feel en route and the noise that will accompany our docking procedure but it is nothing compared to what we’d encounter if we didn’t outrun the storm.

Oh, we’re also going between Japan and North Korea tonight. CNN informed us that the latter have been shooting off “test” missiles again. Well, that will give us something to watch for tomorrow.