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From Traditional to Modern: An Art-Inspired Adventure in Ishikawa - Day2

Travel Journal

From Traditional to Modern: An Art-Inspired Adventure in Ishikawa - Day2

Kaga Yuzen Hand-dyeing experience

Begin your second day exploring the traditional arts of Ishikawa Prefecture at the Kaga Yuzen Kimono Center. Kaga Yuzen is the name of the dyeing technique, which is mainly known as a method for decorating kimono.

Start with a quick tour of the center (a small admission fee applies), which displays the details of the 12 steps involved in Kaga Yuzen dyeing as well as spectacular works by local artisans. Then head downstairs to the workshop area, where you can briefly experience some of the techniques used in Kaga Yuzen dyeing and take home a wonderful souvenir for your efforts.

In the workshop, you can either hand-dye or stencil-dye a handkerchief or tote bag in various predetermined patterns. We choose to stencil dye a handkerchief, which takes about 20-30 minutes and go through each of the 5 Kaga-gosai colors. The instructor explains the technique used to create the gradation of color that is characteristic of Kaga Yuzen’s style. Although the designs appear colorful and complicated, even a novice can create a lovely work of handmade art using stencils in a short period of time. Experienced artists can go even further with hand-dyeing projects or elaborate gradation techniques.

Kanazawa Station to Yamashiro Onsen / Yamanaka Onsen

Take a 10-minute bus ride to Kanazawa Station to catch the Limited Express Thunderbird to Kaga-onsen Station to spend the remainder of the day in the gorgeous mountainous area of Ishikawa Prefecture known as Yamashiro and Yamanaka Onsen. As the names imply, there are numerous hot springs in this area and you’ll be able to enjoy them tonight at your accommodations.

Before you depart Kanazawa Station, however, return to the Tourist Information Center and arrange to have your luggage forwarded to your accommodation. For a reasonable fee, you’ll then be able to enjoy exploring the area without worrying about hauling your luggage around with you all day. Provide your hotel information to the Tourist Information Center and they will help you send your luggage.

About a 30-minute train ride to Kaga-onsen Station, then a 15-minute taxi ride to Kappo Kaga Restaurant (about 1 hour in total).

Kappo Kaga Restaurant

While there are many fine restaurants in Yamashiro Onsen, ask your taxi driver to drop you off at Kappo Kaga, which specializes in traditional Kaga-style dishes prepared using the fresh seafood caught in the Japan Sea. Kaga-style meals also mean your food is presented on beautiful Kutani ceramic ware, a meal as lovely as it is delicious. Kappo Kaga is popular with locals and tourists alike, and seats fill up quickly during dining hours, so you might wish to ask your hotel to make a reservation for you.

If you don’t mind sitting on the tatami mat floor in traditional Japanese style, you can get a small private dining room where you can enjoy your meal in a tranquil atmosphere. The Kaga lunch has a sampling of many of Ishikawa Prefecture’s seafood delights that are currently in season, as well as locally produced soba noodles and incredible grilled sesame tofu so sweet and creamy you’ll never look at tofu the same way again. Crab is a local specialty of Kaga, and Kaga kani gohan (crab rice) is a wonderful way to enjoy the sweet flavors of the crab caught in this area. Several side dishes are served along with the rice and an adorable onsen tamago (egg boiled in onsen water) that looks like it came fresh from the onsen hot springs!

10-minute walk to…

Iroha Soan - The Old Temporary Abode of Rosanjin

This beautifully preserved cottage was the temporary home of Rosanjin, a master artist of woodworking, calligraphy, and ceramics. Although Rosanjin was born in Kyoto and lived in various places around Japan during his lifetime, his heart remained here at Iroha Soan in Yamashiro Onsen. Many of the items on display here are exactly as Rosanjin left them in the spring of 1916.

Rosanjin may have been drawn to the area by his love of food; he delighted in some Kaga-style dishes that he had never tasted in Kyoto, although he had developed a fondness for Kyoto cuisine. After moving away from Yamashiro Onsen, Rosanjin established “Hoshigaoka Saryo,” a high-class restaurant in Tokyo, where he brought his knowledge of Kaga cuisine as head chef.

While he lived in the cottage, it became a cultural center, attracting visitors and guests who shared Rosanjin’s love of the traditional arts and Japanese tea ceremony.

Even if you know nothing about Rosanjin, the house is a fascinating glimpse of life in Yamashiro Onsen over 100 years ago. One can almost imagine sitting around the irori fire pit, keeping warm in the snowy winter, surrounded by friends telling stories and downing cups of sake late into the night, or sitting silently as the autumn leaves drift to the ground in front of the garden window.

5-minute walk to…

Yamashiro Onsen Town

An onsen town wouldn’t be an onsen town without at least one public bathhouse, and Yamashiro Onsen doesn’t only have one, but two! The Soyu Public Bath and Ko-Soyu Public Bath are located adjacent to one another in a central part of town. While the Soyu bath house is a modern facility with multiple choices of baths, the Ko-Soyu bath house is a re-creation of the type of bath popular in the Meiji era over 100 years ago. This stately building stands alone among the traditional style buildings in the area, flanked by lovely willow trees. The inside of the bath is decorated with stained glass windows and elegant ceramic tiles.

10-minute walk to…

Kutani-yaki Kiln Museum

Kutani ceramics have been an important traditional art in the Kaga region for centuries, and the Kutani-yaki Kiln Museum preserves an important piece of Kutani ceramics history. The remains of a nearly 200-year-old climbing kiln are preserved here, where it was moved from Kutani Village in 1826. The enormous size of the kiln underscores the vast amount of Kutani ceramics it produced over its lifetime when it was replaced by a newer kiln built in 1965.A newer kiln was built in an adjacent building, but the original is currently the oldest Kutani ceramics kiln in existence.

The main building was used as a residence, workshop, and company headquarters for the kiln owner dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Tools used in the workshop and Kutani ceramics works are also on display.

Visiting this museum gave us a sense of how important Kutani ceramics were, and still are, to this region as a traditional art form. There must have been a vast amount of products that were produced in this area during the years the kilns were active.

From here, take the Canbus from bus stop 6a back to Kaga-onsen Station and the free hotel shuttle bus from the station to your hotel in Yamanaka Onsen..

Yamanaka Onsen (Ohanami Kyubei)

After a day of enjoying the tastes, sights, and experiences in Ishikawa, you may need a little time to rejuvenate. Check in to Ohanami Kyubei, one of the several fantastic ryokan-style hotels in Yamanaka Onsen. Each room at Ohanami Kyubei looks out over the Daishoji River with breathtaking seasonal views. Sit near the window and enjoy the view while enjoying the hotel’s complimentary snacks for staying guests.

But your day is far from over, so reserve one of the three private rotenburo outdoor hot springs baths at no charge to guests and relax in the soothing onsen waters. After your hot springs bath, gird yourself for an extravagant kaiseki meal served in the restaurant with a huge selection of dishes prepared using local seasonal ingredients.

After filling your belly with such an incredible meal, you might be tempted to turn in early for the night. But if you do, you’ll miss one of Yamanaka’s best-kept secrets, a local bar that is a mecca for sake connoisseurs.

12-minute walk to…

WASHU BAR ENGAWA

At any given time in Engawa, you might share the small counter in front of the bar with first-time sake tourists, well-read connoisseurs trying to increase their knowledge about sake, and locals just relaxing after a long workday. Although they come for various reasons, they stay mainly for one: Yusuke Shimoki, Engawa’s owner and sake ambassador to the world.

Whether you know anything about sake or not, when you enter the bar, you’ll leave with far more knowledge and appreciation for this traditional Japanese alcohol than you came with. Shimoki is a true believer in the goodness of sake, a fount of expertise about anything related to sake, and a perfect gentleman in his smart bartender’s uniform. If you don’t know what kind of sake you want, he’ll serve you exactly the kind of sake you need. During our visit, he started us with a bright and bubbly carbonated sake that set the mood for our lively conversation. Later, he honored our request for a fine example of Yamanaka Onsen-produced sake by serving a Shishi no Sato Syun Junmai Ginjo, so smooth you could drink it like a cup of water.

Shimoki is also a sake ambassador in the literal sense, having visited cities like New York, Toronto, and Frankfurt to spread the good news of sake to the world. Yet despite his great influence and global acclaim, he chooses to remain here in his hometown of Yamanaka Onsen, introducing one customer at a time to the wonderful world of sake.


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