It took a couple of hours to reach Shirakawago, driving through very high, very steep mountains. Driving “through” is the right word because Japan must have thousands of tunnels, some only 100 m long but we drove through several long tunnels. In one case a 15 km tunnel was followed by 100 m in the open then another 8 km tunnel. The road system must be very expensive to build. It occurred to us that whenever more rock is needed for concrete (for buildings, roads, bridges, etc) they dig another tunnel.

We stayed at Gosenjaku Lodge on the right bank of the river in Kamikochi National Park, during 24 hours of steady rain.

The mountains certainly are beautiful, with dense forest up to the tree line at about 2500 m in this area, and a mixture of green grass or moss and exposed rock above the tree line. The trees are starting to turn to autumn shades so it should be quite pretty by the time we leave Japan in 3 weeks.

Shirakawago is a 350-year old village nestled in a narrow, flat valley between tall mountains, with several cold, clear streams running amongst the buildings. The rain stopped and we enjoyed a couple of hours wandering around the village. Some buildings are solely for tourists, e.g. shops and museums but most are still used as homes for local people. Most of the buildings have thatched roofs in original style while some have been modernised with iron roofs and gutters. Rice fields and vegetable gardens co-exist with buildings and streets. Visiting this town is certainly worthwhile and we saw lots of local tourists and a few westerners.

A couple of hours later we arrived at Kanazawa, a large city on the northern coast, facing the China Sea. It’s a nice city and Kana and Gutti chose a good hotel right in the city centre. After dinner in the hotel’s Italian restaurant we farewelled Kana and Gutti who were to leave for Tokyo early the next morning. It was sad to part from them as we have really enjoyed their company and they have been such wonderful hosts.

The next day, Saturday, we wandered around Kanazawa for several hours, visiting the train station, to buy tickets for Kyoto; the Samurai district, a very old part of town with original style housing; the Kenrokuen Gardens, beautiful green gardens with several lakes; Kanazawa Castle, a well preserved 350-year old structure in the centre of the city; and the fish market, filled with locals buying an incredible range of fish produce.

Lots of people, especially young women, dress up for special occasions such as public holidays.

Beautiful Kenrokuen Gardens

Kanazawa Castle

That was a full day, with 13 km of walking, so we hit the beds very tired, to get ready for the next phase of the trip, a few days in Kyoto.