Toyama

Monday 23rd October (Day 4)

Woke up to what looks like to be a lovely day …. Just the right temperature and dry …. So today we are off on a little trip out of Kanazawa ….. we are going to Toyama.

Toyama is a coastal city on the Sea of Japan in central Honshu and it’s only about 40 miles out of Kanazawa. Close enough for a nice day out - but far enough to warrant a cheeky trip on the Shinkansen.  It would only take 20 minutes to get there on the Shinkansen …. But this is our first bullet adventure for a while. 

So early (ish) morning and had a saunter down to the train station …. About 20 minute walk and got ourselves on the lovely Shinkansen.

Twenty minutes later we were in Toyama.  First thing we noticed is that they have trams …. And they cost ¥210 flat rate for any journey …. Guess how we were getting round Toyama!

First stop was the castle and castle park ….. really nice, but we noticed that everything was in Japanese … not much English anywhere - which does make it more fun but sometimes you’d like to know what you are looking at.

The other thing we noticed …. No other foreign tourists …. We saw a couple later, but round the castle - nothing …. In fact we were pretty much the only ones there ….. 

On the way out, we saw a pretty statue of a lady and a child …. And finally an English explanation.  Apparently, Toyama was used as target practice with four huge ‘pumpkin bombs’ as a rehearsal for dropping the big one on Hiroshima and Nagasaki! I didn’t know this and neither did Scott …. Every days a school day eh …..

Not sure if you can zoom in on the photo to read the full inscription …. But Toyama was completely destroyed and became the most bombed Japanese city.  I had never heard of this before …..

Back on the tram for a couple of stops and we were going to the Glass Art Museum …. The tram stopped very close to the museum, but right outside a Starbucks….. yeah OK - stopping for a drink …. Cue one wonderful Matcha Latte Frappe . . . . That hit the spot 

OK - off to the museum….. the art was fantastic …. There was a special exhibition by a guy called Dale Chihuly and it had to be seen to be believed. We’re not talking a few ashtrays and vases here… we are talking out of the world, how the hell did he do that kind of glass 

Not sure if the photos really do them any justice, all the exhibits were in the dark and I wasn’t allowed to use my flash, but that is all glass … it was sooo tempting to reach out and touch them, but I didn’t dare.  One woman had dared to flaunt the rules twice …. Not only did she touch an exhibit she used her flash…. In a second, all the museum staff were on here telling her off with fingers wagging …… scary stuff 😬. 

Last stop was a traditional medicine shop …. Looking to see if we can fix Scott up 😂😂. They still make, what I assume is herbal medicines in the traditional way and there was a demo of how they make them ….. no photos allowed 😟…. But it was interesting to see. Unfortunately, again, everything was in Japanese so I didn’t dare buy anything! Photo of the shop from the outside …

Loving Toyama and not just for the lovely gardens and castle, but the whole ambience - it’s just a really nice place ….  and the biggest draw for us …. The lack of tourists (ironic I know)

Anyhoo - Back in the tram and back to the station ….. caught a very busy Shinkansen (rush hour) but still got nice seats and 20 minutes later, we were back in Kanazawa.

Finally made it home for a relaxing evening and some food. 

Staying in Kanazawa tomorrow and going to the Geisha tea district and we’ve booked for the teamLab exhibition tomorrow night …. So until then xxx