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KANAZAWA |
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Like several other historic cities on the Japan Sea coast, KANAZAWA
, the modern, refined capital of Ishikawa-ken, south of Toyama-ken, has
become something of a backwater. Only 150 years ago, this old castle
town was the fourth largest city in Japan, with a sophisticated
population whose riches rested on the area's abundant production of rice
and long periods of peace. Today, despite being a sprawling city with
artistic pretensions, its main attraction is the lovely Kenroku-en , one
of Japan's top three gardens, within which you'll find the elegant
Seison-kaku villa. The city also has many museums, a compact area of
samurai houses and the fascinating "Ninja" temple Myoryu-ji . There's
also a conscious effort made to make gaijin welcome, demonstrated by
Kanazawa's many international centres.
Kanazawa's history stretches back over seven hundred years to when the
region was known as Kaga, a name which is still applied to the city's
exquisite crafts, such as silk-dyeing and lacquerware, and its
delicately prepared cuisine. The city's heyday was a golden century from
1488, when the ruling Togashi family was overthrown by a collective of
farmers and Buddhist monks, and Kanazawa became Japan's only independent
Buddhist state. Even though autonomy ended in 1583, when the daimyo
Maeda Toshiie was installed as ruler by the warlord Oda Nobunaga who
unified Japan, Kanazawa (which means "golden marsh") continued to thrive
as the nation's richest province, churning out five million bushels of
rice a year.
You'll still see plenty of rice growing on the way out to the Noto Hanto
, a rural peninsula north of Kanazawa, and a great place to kick back in
a charming fishing village and enjoy a slower pace of life. Also
possible as a long day-trip south of Kanazawa, in the hills of
Fukui-ken, is Eihei-ji , one of the Japan's most atmospheric temples,
surrounded by forests and still an active monastery. You can also stay
in the temple overnight and experience part of the monks' daily routine.
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