The old and the new

After quite a wet last week it’d be a crime not to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we had today: maybe a tad too windy, but sunny, clear skies and warm (I think it was around 16°C at its highest today). So after the one period of class that I had, I looked at my tourist map of Kanazawa, thought for a moment and then took off.

I decided to first visit one of the geisha districts, Higashi Chaya-machi (東茶屋街), which literally means the Eastern Tea-house district – though it has to be noted that in this case ‘tea-house’, that is chaya, is an euphemism, as it does not indicate a place where people drink tea, but a place where geisha meet their clients. There are three, still working!, geisha districts in Kanazawa: the Higashi, which I already mentioned, Nishi (西茶屋街) that is the Western, and Kazue-machi (主計町茶屋街) that is the geisha district in the Kazue district, the paymaster or accountant district. I’m not sure, but I think that out of these three Higashi is the oldest; it certainly is the biggest, though my guide claims that Nishi has the most geisha working there. Though let it be clear: spotting a geisha is not a piece of cake even with three geisha districts. Though nowadays they do rely more on the tourism industry and generally on being a tourist attraction and remnants of the times past than on their private donor, one has to go to quite some lengths to spot one, at the very least know where and when to be (that is mainly in the evenings or at nights, not during the day) – or has to be a fairly well earning/just rich tourist who can afford to eat at the luxurious traditional Japanese restaurants, which offer performances by real geisha. But all in its time, I will see a Kanazawa geisha sooner or later.

Anywho, that’s where I headed first. Even before you see the most famous street of Higashi Chaya-machi, you know that you’re there because of the smell of incense that’s in the air. With such a prelude the view ahead was even more enchanting – it could seem like very little, the street between rows of traditional, and thus simple, Japanese houses one by one is relatively plain (as in not decorated), but there is beauty in this simplicity and you certainly feel like having travelled in time (well, you would were it not for the other tourists who were dressed in modern clothes and were also clicking with their cameras). But what surprised me the most was that despite a few of these houses being turned into museums, shops or actual tea houses, the other ones were… well, lived in. It may not be obvious at first, especially when one’s blinded by the feudal Japan style charm, but you just need to look: a post box, traditional door which in fact is hiding a garage with a car parked in there, names or house numbers by the door… I don’t dare to think how much it costs to live there – properties in Japan are expensive as it is, nevermind living in a historical geisha district that’s an official cultural asset!

The most famous street in Higashi Chaya-machi.

Antique shop, sign 1.

Antique shop, sign 2.

In front of one of the tea houses (the proper ones).

Against expectations, if one is not interested in „geisha hunting”, you can walk through and see the most interesting parts of Higashi Chaya-machi in quite a short period of time. Fortunately just outside of it there is a fairly large temple area. I’m saving proper sightseeing there for some later time, after all it’s some fifty four temples, bigger and smaller, on a road leading mainly uphill (which I know thanks to the order-keeping man at the Utasu temple [who had too many leaflets to be a policeman, but for parking security there wasn’t really enough parking there – nor need for its security] who explained it a little to me and gave me a few leaflets and maps). Nevertheless, I did visit a few: first the tiny Sugawara (菅原神社), then the already mentioned Utasu (宇多須神社), then a quick walk uphill to a spot overlooking the city, and finally to a very teeny-tiny temple that seemed like someone’s house at first, Enchō (円長寺). And let me tell you, I definitely prefer the smaller and slightly more outsider-ish temples than the big ones that attract all sorts of tourists from almost everywhere in the world. The ones I visited today had a more temple-y atmosphere, they were serene in the way that encourages deep thoughts or praying, or just relaxing.

Sugawara-jinja seen from the street.

Sugawara-jinja.

Utasu-jinja.

Figurines in the Utasu-jinja garden (unfortunately, I only recognise Buddha on the left and they had no sign or anything).

Wishes to the gods left on the tree in the Utasu-jinja garden.

Utasu-jinja dragon.

View of Kanazawa from (slightly) above.

Enchō-ji seen from the street.

Seeing all that took a lot less time than I anticipated, so in order not to waste the day, and also for a bit of a change, I travelled the relatively short distance from Higashi Chaya-machi to Katamachi (片町). You could not have a bigger difference between these two: while the former is calm and has the atmosphere of century-old history surrounding you, a visit to Katamachi is a jump into the modern era, the busy and loud lifestyle. In other words: if you want to do some shopping or have fun in Kanazawa, you’ll be heading to Katamachi! Though you can see it at its best only at night, when neons flash everywhere and there’s people going to/from clubs, izakayas, karaoke bars, internet cafes, game arcades, the so called maid cafes and what have you – you can’t really experience that during the day, especially not on a Monday afternoon. But to me, a proper city rat, it was just as good, even though I think being surrounded by greenery (green really does calm down) and with a more refreshing mountain air is doing me lots of good, in my heart I know that I’ll never get sick of being in the city and the feeling that the entire world is at your hand, that you can do anything you please, you just need to make the choice.