Kanazawa to Nagoya with a Stop in Hikone

This morning we woke up and checked out of the hotel early with the intention of stopping for a few hours in a city on the way to Nagoya.  We asked a woman in the train ticket office how to get to Nagoya.  She told us to take a limited express train from Kanazawa to Maibara and then the shinkansen from Maibara to Nagoya.

We didn't have any plans for where we would spend the day, so while Greg slept on the train, I pulled out the Lonely Planet Japan and scoured the maps and information to find an appropriate city to spend a few hours in.

I finally decided that we would go to Hikone.  Hikone was only one stop away from Maibara, where we were required to change trains anyway.  The guidebook suggested Hikone Castle as an alternate to Himeji Castle, which was, as we discovered, under construction and not visible.

Hikone Castle is one of the most preserved castles in Japan.  Some castles were ruined by fire, many were dismantled during the Meiji era, and others were destroyed during World War II.  Few castles have survived.

Hikone-jo Castle.

Because much of the castle is original, Hikone-jo is our favorite castle.  Castles rebuilt as museums (like the Osaka Castle) are less interesting.

Hikone Castle

We explored the stable first, where we fed some hay to a pretend horse.  We then walked over the moat and  proceeded to walk up the hill towards the castle.

Me feeding the "horse" in the stable.

The view next to the castle from the top of the hill was amazing!  We could see Lake Biwa and in the distance some snow-covered mountains.

Lake Biwa with mountains in the distance.

We entered the castle.  The stairs were the most memorable part of the castle itself.  The stairs were very steep and a little scary to climb, even with a handrail.

Steep castle steps.  

This castle was not used as a museum.  In fact, the castle was mostly empty.  The construction and architecture of the castle were more on display than any other feature.

Greg reading about the castle.

After we finished seeing the inside of the castle, we consulted the map.  From the castle, we walked to the old town where we went into a couple of little shops.

Old town Hikone.

Old town Hikone.

It was about 2pm, so I called Yuri, a friend I met several years ago in Belgium, and we agreed to meet later in the evening for dinner.

Greg and I walked back to the train station where we took a train back to Maibara, and then the shinkansen to Nagoya.

We finally arrived at Tsuchiya Hotel to check in.  The hotel seemed nice, but we weren't actually staying at the hotel.  We were staying next door at Business Inn Tsuchiya (owned by Tsuchiya Hotel).  I had spent an awful lot of time trying to find a hotel in Nagoya, but for whatever reason, nothing nice was available.  I literally combed all of the hotel and travel websites and found availability at only 3 establishments, two of which were far from the train station.

So we ended up staying at Business Inn Tsuchiya in a smoky smelling room with cigarette burns in the carpet. Worse than the smell was the bathroom situation.  All the toilets were Japanese style (AKA hole in the ground) and the only women's restroom was upstairs on the 4th floor.  This "inn" was definitely meant for late businessmen who missed their last train.  Nobody else would want to stay there!

We met up with my friend Yuri around 7 at our "hotel" and walked with her to a more traditional Japanese restaurant establishment.  Even I was able to eat the food!  Greg and I both tried several dishes we would not have had the opportunity to try otherwise.

Amazingly, Yuri already had everything planned for tomorrow.  Even more amazingly, she had planned to go to a place that I had really wanted to visit!

As we go to sleep in this hole of a "hotel," at least we know that tomorrow we are going to see some really awesome sites.

The Toilet Post

I can't possibly write about Japan without writing about their toilets.

I am almost always amused, befuddled, or horrified at the state of the toilet situation in other countries. In much of Europe you have to provide your own toilet paper and pay (the highest rate I have seen was at the Zoo u-bahn station in Berlin: 1.50 Euro). In Eastern Europe and Turkey, you often have to pay to use a hole-in-the-ground style of toilet. In the UK, you can find free toilets, but they aren't easy to find. In Central America, you can't find toilets.

In Japan, however, toilets are plentiful, equipped with toilet paper, and free. Many have the added bonus of having bidet, sound, and warming features. I have never encountered such a pleasurable toilet situation while traveling. If anything, the Japanese go overboard! More than once, I walked into a public restroom to discover a toilet with some of those bonus features.

Public toilet in Kyoto complete with bonus features.

However, just as often, I found Japanese style toilets (hole in the ground). I never did understand why the toilet dichotomy existed: the hole in the ground on one side and the ultra fancy gadget toilet on the other.

Indeed, there were directions in this public restroom in Osaka.  But if you are 

used to Eastern toilets, it makes sense that you would need directions. 

Additionally, I think planning of bathrooms for family use is a great idea. Most women's bathrooms had a low urinal and a couple, as in the photo below, featured a second toilet (or a cover for the regular toilet to create one sized for a child).

I couldn't not take a photo of the mini toilet! It was just too funny.

Thus ends the toilet commentary.

Kanazawa

The weather today in Kanazawa was worse than it was in Kyoto.  At least in Kyoto it snowed.  In Kanazawa, it only rained, and rained, and rained.  I'm not sure what temperature it was, but I'm sure it was in the low 30s.  Since we only had one full day to see Kanazawa, we couldn't afford to wait until the weather was better to explore.

Like in Kyoto, we bought day-passes for the bus.  There is a circle route meant for tourists.  The circle route bus stops at all points of interest including the geisha district, castle and garden area, and samurai district.

Since our ryokan was near the train/bus station, we purchased our bus tickets at the station and hopped on the tourist bus which was, strangely enough, filled with locals.

Our first stop was Gion (geisha district).  The bus dropped us off near the district, but we decided to explore the area surrounding first. 

River near geisha district.

As we wandered the streets, light rain fell off and on.  We attempted to play my traveling game, "Most Interesting," in which the participant(s) walk only along the most interesting streets without consulting a map.  My theory is that if you wander around choosing the most interesting street at each intersection, you will naturally end up seeing what it is you want to see.    


After wandering for awhile, Greg broke down and pulled out the map.  My traveler's intuition said we were going the right way, but he said he had to consult the map to be sure.  

Geisha district.

We did find Gion.  (I still don't think we needed the map.)  After passing by a tea shop or two featuring saleswomen dressed as geikos (another word for geisha used primarily in Kyoto districts), we hopped back on the tourist bus.  The castle was our next point of interest.

Kanazawa Castle.

Although the sun was out, the sprinkling continued while we visited the castle.  By this time, my jeans were soaked about halfway up the calf.  We wished that the rain would turn into snow - it felt cold enough - but it never did.

We toured the castle grounds, then walked to the nearby garden, Kenroku-en.

Kenroku-en Garden.

Kenroku-en Garden is one of the most famous gardens in Japan.  The garden was pretty, but because it is winter, most of the trees had no leaves. It had snowed recently in Kanazawa, but the rain and slightly-too-warm temperature meant that the snow was melting and only bits remained.

Kenroku-en Garden.

The sprinkling had been a minor annoyance in Gion and the castle, but became unbearable while visiting the garden.  Greg's rain jacket failed him and my umbrella was no match for diagonal rain, which meant we were unable to explore the whole garden and we were more or less soaked by the time we exited the garden and sat down inside a tourist shop/ramen house bordering the garden.

Samurai District.

Miserably wet, but not finished sightseeing, we hopped back on the tourist bus and headed towards the samurai district.  Fortunately, the weather wasn't quite so horrible anymore.  Unfortunately, most of the houses are not authentic samurai houses, but recreations.  Nevertheless, visiting the samurai district was interesting and gave us some historical insight.

After walking through the samurai district, we wandered around Kanazawa a bit more, then took the bus back to the station and walked back to the ryokan.