Kanazawa!

Kanazawa is one of the most famous cities in Japan, and now I understand why. Some people call it "little Kyoto" because it's so beautiful and has so many historic sites. It's one of the few major cities in Japan that wasn't fire-bombed in WWII. Last weekend, I had the privilege of going there with my mates Kym (our dedicated driver), Luke and Phil.



The first day of our long weekend (and that night) we spent in Kanazawa, and got to see amazing places such as Kenrokuen (one of Japan's 3 most famous gardens), Kanazawa Castle, the Higashi Geisha District, and the Samurai District. We spent the whole of the second day driving up (and down) Noto Peninsula.

A picture says a thousand words, and I took a heap of pictures, so you can check them all out here... and there are captions for each photo, anywho.

Inside the Kanazawa Castle grounds, I couldn't help but feel very strange. What with the dull weather, that haunting breeze, the crows, and the sheer emptiness of a location that was once so important and where so much happened, it was extremely eerie. Check out this creepy video I took of the longhouse in the castle grounds. I was seriously spooked.



We spent the last day of our long weekend in Nagano to recover, though Luke and I were out all day looking for a swimming pool (inspired by the ocean we'd seen the day before). Of course, it was a public holiday, and none we found were open. But we found a ramen VS soba festival (two kinds of noodles, both famous in Japan), and enjoyed the best soba meal we'd ever had. I'm not sure which noodle won in the end, though!

That night, I was at home minding my own business when I heard this music and drum beat. As a part of the Autumn Festival, mikoshi (portable shrines) were being carried around. Then I heard one of them coming down my street, so I grabbed my camera and took a video of it: