This morning we said our farewell, without any particular sadness, to the Takayama Ouan Hotel. I suppose I should not be so harsh on this place as the staff has been unfailingly pleasant and helpful. It is just not the place I would have picked to stay, and I was irritated that we ended up here. We are trying Japan’s famous luggage forwarding services. We packed a small overnight bag to take with us to Kanazawa today, and we should be reunited with our two larger suitcases in Tokyo on Saturday.
We put the bags that were coming with us today in a locket at the train station and took a local train to Hida Furakawa, a village about 10 kilometers from Takayama. As expected, the train left the station at 9:40 precisely. We reached our destination 15 minutes later. Our travel agent had arranged for us to take a bike ride through the countryside here with a guide. We wandered through the town and, with the help of Google, found the bike tour office. We liked our guide right away. He had lived and studied in Toronto, and not only did he have a solid mastery of English, he also understood North American sensibilities. We had some company today, two older Spaniards, a married couple. We also liked them, even though we somehow never quite learned their names. He was a retired electrical engineer, and he spoke excellent English. His wife spoke little English, though she was absolutely delighted that I could converse with her in Spanish.
One we all had our bikes and had adjusted them, we were off through the quiet streets of the village. The old neighborhoods of Hida Furukawa are beautifully preserved.
As we rode along, everyone greeted us with a cheerful “ohiogozaimas” or “good morning.” The secondary students had to practice their English by calling out “Hello! How are you?” to use as we passed. I found it hard to imagine Americans in most places being so friendly.
As we rode along, we learned a great deal about the different types of rice that are planted here. The Japanese prefer short-grain rices instead of the long-grain varieties that are more common in California. They grow ordinary rice for daily use, sticky rice for making sushi, and a special almost round rice that will be distilled into sake. Our guide confirmed that few farmers make much money from growing rice and that evading otherwise harsh taxes was the principal reason for planting year after year. He pointed out that they also grow soybeans here and also different types of vegetables. We came across a family planting some vegetables today.
We also had a chance to see where they raise the famous Hida beef. Japanese beef is the opposite of free-range beef. The cattle are raised in barns and fed a rich diet before they are slaughtered.
It gave me pause.
We stopped at a farmhouse. Our guide explained that the house was extremely large by Japanese standards, but that was because several generations of the same family lived there.
The farmer’s wife was quite happy to show us around and even let us go inside to see the room for receiving guests. It is not easy to describe Japanese rooms sometimes as their functions are different from those of American or European rooms.
We stopped at a spring on a small hillside. John refilled his water bottle.
and our guide used the same spring water to make us some tea.
We passed over the train tracks
and soon we were back in the village.
We said goodbye to our guide and our Spanish friends, and headed back to catch the train. Our return train was an “express” which probably saved us a minute or two, hardly worth the extra ¥300.
Back in Takayama, we had a quick cup of coffee. We grabbed our belongings and went from the train station to the bus station next door. We were headed to Kanagawa, but along the way we were scheduled to stop at Shirakawa-go for a couple hours. You can see why I did not want to be carrying all our belongings with us! Unfortunately, this bus did not have reserved seats and it was insanely crowded. I had a regular seat, but poor John had to endure 65 minutes on a folding seat in the aisle. It was torture.
Shirakawa-go is high in the mountains. The climate is harsh: the area experiences some of the heaviest snowfall in the country. It was so remote from other settlements that it developed a fairly unique culture and style of architecture. Now connected by highway to both Takayama, Kanazawa, and other cities, it has become a magnet for tourists who want to see the unique gassho-style homes. It is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There are about 300 of these houses in all. Some are still used as private homes. Other have been converted into shops and restaurants. Others form a folk village museum here. John was not feeling that great after his miserable bus ride, so we just had some coffee and a soft serve and walked around a bit. We did not really have time for the folk museum, and I figured that I had learned most of this stuff in Hida, anyhow.
Around four thirty we boarded the second bus. We had reserved seats, actually, very good ones, on this bus and it was not all that crowded, either. We took a final look at Shirakawa-go
and continued on to Kanazawa.
We arrived in Kanazawa around six o’clock. We took a cab to our hotel in the center of the small city. We are staying at the Hotel Tokyu. It is a Hilton kind of place designed for business travelers and western tourists. The room is the standard size for this kind of hotel, but after our accommodations in Takayama it seems like Versailles.
In the evening, we asked the helpful man at the front desk for a dinner recommendation. He asked what we wanted and I said that I really wanted tonkotsu ramen. He said that was an easy one, and suggested a place about a minute’s walk away. We found it without much problem. It was a small place with only a couple tables and a larger counter. We took a place at the counter, and a few minutes later were slurping the most delicious ramen I have ever had. It was far from the fanciest meal I have had in Japan, but it might be the most satisfying.
