these are a few of my favorite things
Trip dates: October 27, 2016 - November 1, 2016
Since leaving Tokyo, Eric and I have visited a variety of places in Japan and each had a unique feel to them! We first went up north to Aomori, which is at the top of the main island right across from Hokkaido. We didn't get to spend much time here as it was just a gateway point to get us to our destination of Lake Towada but I really liked what I did see. The town is pretty small and just felt very real. Maybe it was also because I didn't feel like we were surrounded by tourists.
We took a bus from Aomori to Oirase to start our hike to Lake Towada. The bus was included as part of our JR Pass - bonus! The Oirase stream/gorge area is supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots in Japan, especially during the autumn leaf changing season and we were not disappointed! While I think we missed the peak season by just a couple days, it was still beautiful to be able to walk along the stream. Besides a couple areas (namely by the large waterfalls), the trail was relatively quiet and we felt like we had the whole area to ourselves at times. There were some Asian tour groups that popped up now and then, but for the most part, it seemed like this was a spot that was on local tourists' radars only and not a destination for too many foreigners. It was a really nice break from the hustle and bustle and crowds of Tokyo.
We spent the night in the little town on Lake Towada, the source of the Oirase stream. There was an option to do a boat cruise around the lake, but we decided to pass as it was an overcast and chilly day. Besides the lake cruise and a visit to the shrine, there's really nothing else going on in Towada. Since we were further up north, it started getting dark very shortly after 5pm and the town completely shut down once the sun went down. No joke, it felt like it was midnight when we were walking around at 6pm looking for dinner! We were staying in a private room in a hostel (our first one!) and I'm pretty sure Eric passed out before 8pm that night. While the hostel was pretty clean, it wasn't really my cup of tea (mainly because of the whole shared bathroom thing) though it's definitely not a bad option when there aren't any other budget-friendly options around.
After Aomori and Towada, Eric and I headed to Kanazawa. This was probably my favorite city that we visited - it was so clean and not super crowded and just so cute! It kind of reminded me of Bellevue near Seattle, in a good way! We visited the Kanazawa Castle, our first in Japan. This castle was pretty awesome in that it showed a lot about the architecture and how it was reconstructed. There was a cool hands-on exhibit of how the support beams interlocked and it's as if this was the origin of the jigsaw puzzle! We didn't appreciate this castle as much until we visited some other ones, but in looking back, this was definitely the coolest.
We also went to the Kenrokuen garden by Kanazawa Castle, which is a traditional landscaped garden. While it was pretty, it was so overcrowded with tourist groups that it was hard for us to truly appreciate.
The most well known geisha districts are in Kyoto, with the next biggest being in Kanazawa. We walked around the geisha district of Higashi and toured a traditional teahouse where geishas would perform. We didn't see any geishas while we were there (although we did see some later in a hurry at the train station in Kobe!). Kanazawa also has a former samurai district, Nagamachi, which has a restored samurai house that you can visit. We learned that the Japanese are very prompt, as the last admittance to tour the house was at 4pm and we arrived literally a minute after and just missed it! While we didn't get to see the samurai house, we were able to visit an old pharmacy store and saw some of the local Kanazawa crafts and traditions.
Speaking of crafts, Kanazawa is known for gold-leafing and produce the majority of the gold leaf for all of Japan! Some of the shops and galleries offered gold leaf workshops and I was able to make my own. I chose the smallest item available, a compact mirror, and made my own corgi gold leaf! Is it obvious that I miss Napa?
