Kanawaza / Takayama / Noashima

Hold on to your seats kids, this ones going to be a long one. On the day we left, of course Hakuba was back to a beautiful winter wonderland. Everything covered in fresh snow, and fresh snow to snowboard. (ugh) We headed over to our first destination, Kanazawa! We excitedly set up our Japan Rail Pass, and took our first Shinkansen (Japanese Bullet Train.) I knew it was going to be fast, but Yoshi and I were shocked. It felt like we were caught in a time lapse. Since the first one, we've now taken probably half a dozen and still get a little jolt every time. When you have a JR pass you are also treated a bit like royalty. You get to sit in the reserved area with the business people, way more leg room than an airplane, and your own special lines for leaving and getting on. Kanazawa seemed like an easy first stop. With old geisha and samurai districts. The top rated garden in Japan, and a castle from the 1950's. I'm a little dismayed to say, we are already over seeing shrines and castles. I guess after the 15th shrine you sort of get the picture. The castle here was built on top of a crazy high stone wall, but the castle itself mostly burned down in the "great fire of 1601" and then again in 1759. So the castle we saw was actually all rebuilt, losing most of its novelty for us. But the stone work on the main gate was impressive. We later walked into a little old house on our way home, to meet an artist who worked with marble and stone. A really cool man, and a really cool art space. We actually discovered, in a serindipidous sort of way, that this was the man who hand decorated every. single. brick. in that wall. He spoke little English but sort of indicated it was a LOT of fricken work. (Don't worry; I'll point out in the photo's below which wall I'm talking about.) The little house that his art was shown in, was a donated old Geisha house. Our first time in an authentic Japanese house. With it's tatami floors, paper shutters, and traditional Japanese wood carving. It was certainly beautiful, and delicate. Our first day in Kanazawa was mostly checking out the hub, with the garden, castle, and main shrine. The next morning we woke up early and walked to the Geisha district. Everything built from beautiful old wood. We climbed a hill to a actually quite lovely little shrine. That looked out over the Geisha district, and Yoshi teaching me about Buddhism and the difference between Japanese Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism that he grew up with. 

 My favourite part of Japan is keeping an eye out for all the cute little faces on everything.

 These trees are prevalent in Japan. They are knotty, creepy, and dead like. It would/will? be cool to see them in bloom.

 Beautiful wishes strung out all over the main shrine in Kanazawa.

 ****** THIS IS THE BRICK WORK MENTIONED ABOVE. Again, every single one of these bricks he hand hammered! Pretty big deal this guy, hey?

 Photos of the rebuilt Castle.

 We loved this door. 

 How the castle walls were build/ what they were made of back in the day. 

 Found this little mamacita somewhere in an old office in Kanazawa. 

 Photos of the famed Garden!

 These triangle wooden things are on a lot of trees in Japan. My guess it to hold them up through winter. 

 It's so nice in spring when bright colours draw you in after missing them for so long.

 I like to think this is a cool Samurai lady sculpture. But deep down... I know she a man.

 Budding Sakura and plum trees!!

 I was really captivated by this gentleman admiring the trees in the plum grove. 

 This guy stared at this same tree for a long, long time.

 I wish I could have bottled up the smell of this grove. It was incredible. 

 Some more marble pots from the artist mentioned above.

 The donated Geisha house that his art was presented in.

 We also stayed in our first "Capsule hotel" Like a mini room with a curtain. Very cozy, and comfortable. And that much more private than a dormitory.

 A book store down the street from our hostel

 The street we stayed on. Beautiful light spilling in, in morning time. 

 Bridge crossing into Geisha Town.

 Photos from Shrine graveyard and view.

Our next stop was Takayama. This is the sort of town that charms your pants off. With the main streets covered in glowy latterns, that lead over bridges and into the historic district dating back to the Edo period. We arrived at night and walked through the empty streets. The next morning we woke up and ate our first pepper broth based ramen. We have been eating ramen pretty much everyday, and with all the different types and variations, and an abundance of ramen shops. I don't think we are going to get sick of it anytime soon. We walked through a small Sunday market, and explored the historical area in the daylight. We ate matcha ice cream, and hoping in and out of eclectic shops. We decided to venture out to the "Folk Town" on the edge of town, walking through the industrial area to get there. Other than walking on the stilts provided and making a wish and ringing a gong. We were bored pretty fast in the folk village. After seeing so much of "traditional Japan", we were pretty jaded by this point.  We came around the corner from one of the houses and stumbled across an older gentlemen wheedling wooden spoons. He was gentle and slow and the strength he needed to do his craft was actually impressive for his age. We watched him for some time before catching a bus to escape the rain and the folk village.

 This wood was insanely rich and beautiful

 Historic District. 

 We seem to be following two artist work around Japan. Oscar Oiwa who created these next few pieces called "Journey through the light" I believe. Both of these photos were sort of taken by accident, but I really like them. 

 Takayama had a lot of nooks and crannies you'd find yourself getting drawn into. This was a little place with about 20 tiny bars you could eat and drink at. 

 More wishes outside a shrine.

 This tree was impressive. It was actually taller than the temple I believe. 

 Although, Hard to tell from this angle.

 Yoshis favorite photo of mine of all time. Thanks Yoshi. Thanks temple.

 Family enjoying some market stall food for breakfast. Caught him mid chomp!

 Came across this burnese mountain dog chomping away on some cabbage. There was a crowd watching him.

 He was just so DARN CUTE.

Another shrine in Takayama. I just loved the trees here.

 A look into Buddhist hell...

 Nice coloured bitumen.

 Yoshi mean mugging in a stairwell.

 Streets of Takayama. 

Annnnnnd the folk village ladies and gentleman's.

 The roofs covered in moss were actually quite pretty.

 Here my guy :) 

Our next stop was the island of Noashima. As lonely planet put it: Once home to a dwindling population subsisting on the proceeds of a small fishing industry. It was chosen in the 90's to house world class art galleries and installations. As well as a healthy artist scene that have come from all over the country. I read about Noashima a long while ago, but a girl we met at our hostel in Hakuba had just come from there was absolutely raved about this island. I was expecting sort of Salt Spring island vibe. But as our ferry pulled into a small fishing village, I had to reconsider that opinion. This small island is really just that. Still has its small fishing village vibe and feel, with all this beautiful and acclaimed art installations placed all around. Quirky yet charming, this is the spot I've felt most at home this whole trip yet. On our first day, we had planned to rent some bikes and explore the island. But as we got on our bikes, I actually fell over from the wind. We brought them back and begged for the shop owner to let us come back again tomorrow. Some days, the days you just call it and throw your plans away. End up being the best days of travel. We caught the bus over the Bennesse house. Which is a hotel and art structure that has 4 main types of rooms you can rent. That cost at least a grand a night to stay in. Yoshi wouldn't let us rent a room, I'm still not sure why not. The area has art installations placed all around that you can walk along the beach and find. Here is where the second artist we seem to be following, Yayaoi Kusama has her famous pumpkin are found. We checked out a contemporary onsen. With a wacky outside that looked like somebody who become obsessed with India decorated it. Then on the inside that idea was definitely confirmed. With a giant Elephant in the middle of the room. Crazy light patterns, and a lot of racy imagery (a mix of Indian and japanese) spread around. For supper we opted to for an "American" kitschy diner, owned by a Japanese couple. The wife dressed straight out of the 40's, her hair done up perfectly. The husband wearing train conductor overalls and a leopard print berret. We ordered two burgers and spent most of the meal looking around the diner, wondering where all the stuff came from. We were sitting by the record player, that was blasting Sam cooke. The owner came over when the record finished and pressed a bunch of buttons. He leaned over and whispered "When its busy, we actually just play CD's." The next day we took our bikes all over the island popping in and out of different galleries. The coolest thing was all these old Japanese houses given over to artists to put art installations in. The artist using the space, just as much as the art to bring a beautiful symmetry between past and present. 

 The Ferry ride to Noashima.

 I had to take a few photos of this hostel. The only one on the island, it was a transportation to the 2000's. And smelled and felt exactly like it looked. With how forward most things are in Japan. I still am shocked at how many restaurants, hotels? and other places you are allowed to smoke in.

 This is the first pumpkin, and art installation you see when coming into the port of the island. Yoshi just happened to be matching it, and actually wanted an impromptu photo op. Your welcome.

 Gold bug Part 2.

 One Handsome devil.

 Another thing that always amazes me. The older generation wearing more hip clothing than me. 

 This was another weird art installation by Oscar. Yoshi was actually in another room than me. But it created a weird triple exposure effect.

 Bennesse house museum entrance. 

 There she is! The famed pumpkin. It lights up at night too.