New Shinjuku: June 5, 2016

Shinjuku is the largest shopping center in Japan and is changing every day.

The southern part of the JR station was renovated this spring. A new bus terminal and related facilities were open. 

New walkways were built, which made it easier to move from the station to the shopping centers in the southern areas.

The new bus terminal building is called “Busta Shinjuku”. About 800 buses leave here to many cities throughout the nation every day. The information boards, ticket vending machines and other facilities are new.

They also have tourist information center in the building.

There are sitting spaced in the roof terrace. 

The trains run below. The scene was impressive.

Kanazawa: May 28-29, 2016

I visited Kanazawa, a historical city of Hokuriku area, which faces the Sea of Japan. 

The city had been felt far away from Tokyo before the operation of the Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train) last year. Now, it is felt nearer.

It took only two hour and half to arrive in Kanazawa from Tokyo. The bullet train went through seven prefectures – Tokyo, Saitama, Gunma, Nagano, Niigata, Toyama and Ishikawa – before stopping at Kanazawa station. 

The scenes of the Northern Alps from Kurobe area in Toyama Prefecture was especially impressive.

Kanazawa was the home town of Maeda family, the largest daimyo (feudal load) except Tokugawa shogun family, in the Edo era. Local culture flourished.

Historical areas remain in the city.

The site of Kanazawa Castle was once used as a campus of Kanazawa University. Now, it is a park. Several castle buildings have been rebuilt.

Kenroku-en is a Japanese garden which locates next to Kanazawa Castle. Is was developed by the Mada Family in the 17^th century. The garden is counted as one of the three great gardens in Japan. (see the 2nd photo from the top)

There were many Japanese and foreign tourists there. They enjoyed the scene.

Among the local cultural activities flourished in Kanazawa, noh is especially famous. I visited a nho museum in the center of the city. Various kinds of masks as well as costumes were displayed. I saw foreign tourists enjoying nho experience -- wore masks and costumes and took some steps – assisted by the guides. (see the 3rd photo from the top)

I also had the opportunity to have a lecture of noh from a master. It was interesting.

Some samurai houses are reserved. 

The houses of ashigaru (lower-rank samurai) is as large as the houses used today.

The house of upper-rank samurai has a beautiful garden.

Kanazawa has many artificial waterways. The water was affluent and beautiful. (see the top photo)

The city is trying to encourage cultural activities in various fields. One of them is music. I enjoyed jazz played by boys and girls in a park near Kanazawa Castle.

Kanazawa has a sister city relations with Belgium’s Gent and the Belgium Beer Weekend Festival was held there.

The JR station was renewed recently. The design is drastic.

I also visited Uchinada Town in the suburb of Kanazawa. There is a big sand hill in the seashore.

The place was used as an exercise field of the U.S. military in the early 1950s, when the Korean War occurred. There arose a big resistance move of the local people. It is recorded as one of important social moves in Japanese history.

I found no signs of the exercise or of the struggle. There flow a hung glider over the shore.

The container yards occupied large parts of the Kanazawa port. The lumbers from the Soviet Union (not Russia) were piled here decades ago, according to a local driver, who carried the lumbers to Shizuoka prefecture in his truck.