Yesterday we spent the day in Gokayama, a small village in the mountains that dates back many centuries.   Because of its isolation, it has maintained its cultural uniqueness.  We saw many of the iconic gassho houses, A Frames with thatched roofs.

We were treated to a performance of Kokiriko by two talented ladies.

The instruments before them are made of 108 cypress wood panels.  They held them in the handles on the end and snap them with their wrists, making a percussive sound.  This is supposed to take away bad human tendencies.

Our second day in Kanazawa took us to the Kenruoken Gardens and a gold leaf studio.  The gardens are just beautiful and show the Japanese skill with growing things.  The leaves are just starting to turn here.  Our tour leader says that everything is late because they had such a hot summer.  That sounds familiar.

We also had some time at the Omichi market which is a gigantic open air food and vegetable market.  Reminded me a lot of the market we saw in Fez.  But….the real attraction for me was the stationary store just next door.  Beautiful papers!  

Love this origami vampire!

We then went to a gold leaf studio for a tour.  Kanazawa is know for its gold leaf art items.  We saw how the gold is pounded to 1/10,000 of a mm flat and then cut and shaped into beautiful objects.

We even got to make our own gold leaf postcards.  That was a lot of fun and something I will try in my own studio.  I asked what type of glue they use and they said it was a company secret!

Notice how my friend Cee has put gold leaf on her fingernails!

We found Kanazawa to be a beautiful bustling city.  I was expecting a little beach town since it is on the Sea of Japan.  No!  It is like Tokyo, but much smaller and much less overwhelming.

I tried Sake with dinner last night.  Didn’t care for it.  But I have found the Japanese beer to be delicious!  Also, unexpectedly, for a nation of tea drinkers, I have found the coffee to be quite good!

We’ve spent the last two days in Hakone, which is at the foot of Mount Fuji.  The weather has been perfect, cooler than Tokyo and sunny.  We’ve had beautiful views of the mountain that is so important to the Japanese people.

We visited a wood crafts studio and saw a demonstration of how inlaid wood objects are made.  Very beautiful work!  The Japanese have always been known for their talent in making functional items beautiful.

Today we visited a Taiko drum shop.  We learned about the different types of drums and how they are made.  Then we had a performance by Nio, a very talented drummer who has been drumming since she was 7.

We then walked around the Asakusa area of Tokyo, a vibrant and ancient area.