Ishikawa Uncho
25/04/2020 / Last updated : 31/01/2023 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Eirinji Temple and Ishikawa Uncho 石川雲蝶, Michelangelo of Echigo

June 2019, Eirin-ji Temple and the Echigo Michelangelo　永林寺 The morning at Minami Uonuma michi no eki is dismal wet. Relentless rain and heavy, dark clouds piled up around the mountain as we set out for Eirin-ji temple. This unprepossessing, out of the way temple is home to the works of Ishikawa Uncho. A late Edo and early Meiji period artist, he was a master of wood carving, painting and plaster relief. He worked mainly in Niigata so became known as the Michelangelo of Echigo, the old name for Niigata. His work impressed us in various ways. The incredible skill of his 3-D wood carving, some incorporating perspective and some double […]
08/12/2019 / Last updated : 31/01/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Oyashirazu, where the Japan Alps meet the sea　親不知

May 2019, The trip begins as we set out after lunch and take the Chugoku expressway. We pull in to the Kasai service area at around 9pm, after a long, smooth drive. The Chugoku Expressway is almost always deserted. After dark, the insects were hitting the windscreen like rain. The second day is another long drive, in 32-degree heat, on the traffic free highway. For some inexplicable reason, the speed limit is 80k. sometimes, equally enigmatically, dropping to 60k. Oyashirazu Leaving the highway, we stop at Oyashirazu in Niigata prefecture. We park the car at Tenken community square, near the Oyashirazu Kanko Hotel and walk the community road to the […]
Eiheiji temple
29/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Eiheiji Temple in Fukui 　永平寺

October 2017, Post typhoon, the morning is bright with watery sunshine and a lot of fast moving, ragged cloud. We set off for Eiheiji Temple arriving about 10.30. On the road there is a lot of debris from the Sugi and other trees. People are out clearing up everywhere. We note more serious typhoon damage here and there, mainly vinyl houses and advertising signs but, occasionally, bigger problems where roof tiles have been lost. Eiheiji Temple The temple is large, with numerous buildings connected by covered passages and stairs but, as it nestles in a narrow mountain valley, it is necessarily compact. There is a spacious, tatami floored hall with […]
rock at Noto coastline
25/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/02/2023 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Kanazawa Noh Museum and Museums in Fukui　金沢能楽美術館、福井市立美術館

October 2017, On a Saturday morning, Korogaki no Sato Shika is a very busy michi no eki. The car park is full and people were arriving by local bus to queue up for the vegetable shop that opened at nine. We did not try to shop as the store was very crowded and the queue for the checkout, dauntingly long. Kanazawa Noh Museum So, we set off for Kanazawa Noh Museum arriving a little before midday. The town is very busy and we crawl in traffic looking for the museum parking. This, of course, does not exist but there is a large, underground parking garage for a bigger museum(21st. Century […]
Noto peninsula
25/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/02/2023 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Noto Hanto Art and Tiny Rice Terraces　能登半島

October 2017, Well, what a wet night at Himi michi no eki and, sadly an equally wet morning. We are marooned in the car as the rain lashes around. About 10 am the rain begins to ease, and it is possible to venture outside in the, still, intermittent rain. And so begins our tour of Noto Hanto (peninsula). We drive, in a very leisurely fashion, as there is little else to do. Pulling into the michi-no-eki at Noto Shokusai Ichiba, we look at fish. We leave around lunchtime and head on up the peninsula. Mitsukejima　　見附島 At Mitsukejima or Gunkanjima (warship island) we make a stop, so called because the steep […]
21/07/2019 / Last updated : 31/01/2023 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum and Shomyo Falls　立山称名滝

October 2017, Tateyama Caldera Museum We wake to bright sunshine around 7.30 after a quiet night at Tateyama station. To start the day, we visit the Tateyama Caldera Museum or exhibition centre. This does not open until 9.30 but a friendly gentleman allows us in, even though it is barely a quarter past. Once inside, he explains to us the geological features of the caldera and the reason the government, local or national, both perhaps, I am not sure, have been working for 100 years to minimize the devastation that will occur if another eruption and destructive lava flow happen. It is obvious, from the scale models, that such an […]
Mt.Tateyama
06/07/2019 / Last updated : 31/01/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Hiking on Mt. Tateyama　立山

October 2017, When we get up around am 6.45, after a very wet night, it is overcast but dry and much brighter over Mt. Tateyama. After our usual breakfast, we walk 5 minutes to Tateyama station and buy round trip cable car and bus tickets. We wait, only about 10 minutes, and board the cable car at 8. 30am. As some bus groups have already arrived, it is fairly busy. Hiking Tateyama The cable car ride takes only 7 minutes and, after another short wait, we are riding a bus to Murodo. By now, the sun has strengthened and the morning is clear and bright. Mt. Tateyama stands out, starkly, […]
Manekineko
13/02/2019 / Last updated : 10/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Nanao, Noto Hanto and Takayama 七尾

Day 72, November 2016, Tateyama view Wake later than usual, about 8am at michi no eki Himi, so we are well rested. We walk to the sea front, basically across the road, to see the view that was one reason for coming here. Namely, the snow capped mountains rising straight out of the sea. That is, appearing to rise out of the sea, if you get closer there is the city of Toyama and a lot of industry to destroy the illusion. From Noto Peninsula it really seems that the snowy peaks rise out of the sea. We can see the mountains and get the idea but, it is a […]