Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Travel to Kanazawa

We had a day with things not going to plan. We were up earlier than necessary and decided to wait in our hotel room using the internet, but there was no internet connection. Our train was delayed by 15 minutes which is unusual in Japan. The conductor used an ipad to show us an English explanation for the delay as "accident/injury".

The worst thing has been allocation of a smoking room at the ANA Crowne Plaza Kanazawa. We are certain we requested non smoking rooms at all hotels, but our booking suggests otherwise. Until today we have been impressed with the limitations placed on smoking in Japan. Almost all trains, buses and public places are smoke-free. There are designated smoking rooms or bays, and in Kyoto there was a fine of 1,000JPY for smoking on the street.

It is much cooler here and will be 5 degrees overnight and drizzly. Tomorrow should be sunny but the maximum will only be 15 degrees. Kanazawa is on the northern coast of the main island of Honshu, bordered by the Sea of Japan and the Japanese Alps. 

The Kanazawa Station is another impressive transport structure. There is a huge Tsuzumi Gate made from redwood. A tsuzumi is a Japanese hand drum of Chinese or Indian origin. The timbers in the gate resemble the strings of the drum. In the station there is a model of the gate and the picture shows the curved top. The forecourt is covered with a massive glass dome.


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