Autumn Getaway - Kanazawa -

Trips to Japan are always more than amazing. It has only been a couple of weeks since my last trip to Japan but I already miss spending time with my family, playing with my two adorable nieces, and endlessly eating good Japanese food. Tokyo is always fun to visit. It's one of the few cities where a mundane activity like walking into a random convenient store and picking up some fluffy tamago-sando (egg salad sandwich) and onigiri can make you feel excited.

This time, my sister in law joined us and we made a few days trip to Kanazawa, located in Hokuriku; the north-western region of Japan. I consider Autumn is the most beautiful season in Japan. I am glad we picked Kanazawa to spend our autumn getaway trip. Kanazawa has this quiet sophistication, which is different from Kyoto. I would say Kanazawa is a city for grownups. The autumn colors were seen everywhere from trees and leaves, and the traditional buildings in the warm autumn sunlight.

Kanazawa has this amazing entrance to the city. The gate at the station represents the color and the culture of the city beyond. As you may know, those big stations in Japan are not just stations. They are this high-end market place, where you can buy all local goodies. We spent quite some time here buying souvenirs, pastries, obento, and cakes. They have endless and endless good stuff.... We got so greedy and brought several plastic bags full of food into the Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo.

I don't know how we can say no to these amazing food. Kanazawa is near the Sea of Japan, where they can get abundance of fresh seafood. We almost had sashimi everyday. Omicho market is a great place to try all kinds of local seafood. You can get a bite to eat of many kinds including uni, shrimps, eels, and oysters right at the stalls.

Another thing Kanazawa is proud of is the garden. Kenroku Garden is called one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. I personally like gardens in Kyoto more but this place is grand and beautiful. We went into the tea house inside Kenroku Garden and tried a cup of bitter matcha and a seasonal wagashi. If you are looking for a more private and smaller scale garden, Samurai House of Nomura Clan has a beautifully kept garden.

The highlight of the trip was Onsen Ryokan, which we always schedule at the end of the trip. It is a good way to reflect back on your trip and relax your legs and mind from all the walking and busy touring.

We like watching non-Japanese Youtubers introducing the culture and sometimes onsen places on Youtube. But I have to say they (not all) tend to pick, what I would call, a second class Onsen Ryokan. They are countless numbers of Onsen Ryokan in Japan. It's hard to book a good place without help of Japanese friends so please ask if you want extraordinary Onsen experiences.

Our stay at Takitei in the outskirt of Kanazawa was fantastic. The services and the location were a top-notch. Since this was my sister-in-law's first visit to Onsen, we booked a room with a private bath with a view toward mountains and a river. We got extremely lucky with the weather. It was raining earlier that day so that the trees loosened up some leaves, which were a bit early to fall off in October, and they were falling and making this beautiful butterfly effect. While warming up in the bath, we could see the picturesque landscape, and the sunlight, casting through the clouds, on the mountains and the river, and making this sparkling lighting effect.

Lastly, if you get tired of visiting traditional parts of Kanazawa, you can spend some time at 21st Century Museum, designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Sejima from the architectural office, SAANA. I visited their office 10 years ago when I was a grad student. There were piles and piles of white paper models stacked up in their office. It was funny that the building itself really felt like their paper models and we were the miniature persons inside them. The acoustics and lightings were unfortunately poorly designed but spaces were definitely interesting. And, The Swimming Pool by Leandro Erlich is worth visiting for your Instagram shot.

Typically I take pictures for my own blog but this time, Nicolai was hands-on with the camera and took these amazing photos during the trip, so I would like to give him a credit for documenting our awesome trip photos in Japan.

Greetings in Japanese

毎年日本へ帰ると必ず国内旅行をするのですが、今回はデンマークから義理の妹が来日するということで、まだ訪れたことのない金沢へ行ってきました。

台風がいくつか通り過ぎた１０月で、今回の旅は雨模様になると聞いていましたが、幸い湿気のない気持ちのいい秋晴れに恵まれ、金沢の中心部、そして郊外への観光を楽しむことができました。

金沢の見所は、日本三名園のひとつである兼六園、ひがし茶屋街、武家屋敷跡、そして唯一モダンなスポット、２１世紀美術館でしょうか。小さな街なので、普段動かさない足を利用して散歩気分で観光して回りました。最終日には温泉、そして新鮮なお刺身やお寿司もふんだんに食べて満足度いっぱいの小旅行となりました。

最近歳のせいか若いころより感動しやすく涙もろく、温かい家族に囲まれ、美味しいものをたくさん食べ、懐かしい文化に触れ、今回の日本滞在はいつになく感動の連続で出発日の寂しさといったら...（笑）。今でも温泉旅館の部屋の露天風呂から眺めた、風に揺られてヒラヒラ飛んで落ちていく葉っぱたちや、光が反射してキラキラする山と川の光景がふと頭をよぎり、旅が終わってしまったむなしさと懐かしさで胸がいっぱいになります。さて、アメリカではこれからサンクスギビングにクリスマスとホリデーが続きます。気持ちを切り替えないと！