Tamakiya

 We were up early this morning to catch our Shinkansen to Tamakiya.  The train is fast a very quiet including the passengers.  No one talks enroute and it makes for a very peaceful journey.  We had shipped our large suitcases ahead to Kanazawa and just had an overnight bag to take with us on the train.  This is a common practice in Japan to avoid hauling lots of luggage onto the train.

Upon arrival we were met by our driver for the next two days.  This area is on the west side of the island and has lots of snow (and consequently skiing) and is very mountainous.  The mountainsides are covered in lush landscape and rice fields lined the roads.  This is the complete opposite of Tokyo with small towns along our journey.  Tunnels protect the roads from winter snows and are frequent and relatively long.

Our first stop was at Kiyotsukyo Gorge “Tunnel of Light”.  This tunnel runs alongside a river in the valley below and was erected because of the death many years ago of someone falling into the river and dying.  To protect from this happening again the tunnel has several platforms where you can look out onto the beautiful landscape.  People didn’t visit it at first since they didn’t have the same access to the river so the tunnel and platforms were turned into a sort of art installation.  Each platform has a different theme culminating in a shallow reflecting pool that you can walk into for photo taking.  

We made a fast stop at a roadside piece of art called For Lots of Lost Windows which is a memorial to the destruction caused by an earthquake in the region.

Next we visited a Shinto Shrine not to see the shrine but to see an adjacent piece of art that had been recently installed adjacent to it.  A man looking like he was hugging a large black rock is housed in a nearly built wooden shelter.  This area is known for its art installations as witnessed by this piece.

Our next stop was lunch.  This restaurant was the most traditional we had visited to date.  There were not real chairs and the tables were only inches above the floor.  It could be a bit of a challenge to sit down and stand back up!  We all had a sampler plate that featured several different kinds and preparations of meat along with pickles and soup.  It was a fun spot and the food was delicious.

To cap off the afternoon we stopped at the Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art.  This large, modern building housed some of the more interesting art that I have seen in awhile.  Each room contained a large installation that was both modern and interesting.  One room contained tiny clocks hanging from the ceiling at various levels filling the room.  Another had long rods descending into a silicon filled tank that formed interesting shapes on the surface.  It was one of the more interesting modern art museums I have ever seen.

After the museum we continued on to our onsen (traditional hotel with mineral hot tubs) which is our accomodation for the evening.  Instructed to remove our shoes before entering we slipped on slippers which we will wear during our stay.  Our rooms also provided a basic outfit consisting of a pullover top and loose pants to be worn while here.

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Dinner tonight was in the hotel and was more European than Japanese.  The multicourse dinner was perhaps the best we’ve had so far in the trip. The food was fresh and creative.  We retired to our rooms afterwards hoping for a full night’s sleep.

Tomorrow: Kanazawa