Cruising Around Komatsu

The next morning, 6/2, I started with eating breakfast graciously provided by the guest house. Then the staff, Takashi Hori and Sizuka Tomita, volunteered to give me a tour around the town. First we went to a Kutaniyaki gallery. It was in the old house of a craftsman which was donated to the city, and features works from him and in son-in-laws. The art is quite intricate and stylistically different between the generations. Additionally, being the old house, the backyard still had the the kilns, which were massive but necessary to create such works of art.

As we walked through town, we passed by the first “konbini”.  An old 24 hour restaurant which as been run for generations, I made a mental note to try it later. Next we went to the Miyamaoto Saburo museum, which featured works from the oil painter (obviously pictures were not allowed). His works on the Japanese seasons were particularly impressive, being on massive canvases depicting everyday life for each season, plus two additional paintings for morning and night. The works captured the unique feel of Japan throughout the year.

We walked together through Rojo park afterwards, which was quite a nice place full of trees supported by poles, and scenic ponds and bridges. It also had some nice covered sitting areas, and a great location near the town's modest castle ruins and high school. It seems like it would be a great place to spend time growing up in the town.

On the way back to the guest house we visited the Obari festival museum, a display and storage building for the town's main yearly festival. The festival features massive carts paraded through the town while theater performance occur on them. The museum houses the carts in a grand display for the rest of the year.

We then went to the ocean briefly and walked up the hill to a nearby notable shrine. After grabbing some udon (another delicacy of the town), I snapped a picture with the massive Komatsu dump truck, fulfilling a childhood dream. Nearby I explored the the science hills, which roll over the city's science museum. It is quite an interesting architectural design, since the walkway interlaces itself over the hills, making use of an otherwise neglected space.

Then we went to the automobile museum, which was stuffed full of vintage cars! Tomika was getting nostalgic over certain cars, and was surprisingly knowledgeable about automobiles. As we walked by some vintage Nissan vehicles, she told me about the company's merger with the Prince Motor Company, whose cars were also in the museum. We spent over an hour browsing through three floors, which at points were quite literally overflowing with retro cars. This was one of the coolest collections I have seen, with more variety than even the official Toyota Auto Museum.  I've made a separate album below for you to browse.

If the cars weren't apparently reason enough to visit, the museum's bathrooms amusingly featured toilets from around the world. Additionally, a more relevant tertiary exhibit was a whole room filled with equally vintage model cars! The Motorcar Museum of Japan definitely lived up to its name.

Lastly we went to Natadera, a Buddhist monastery with a very unique landscape. Within it's grounds was a beautiful Japanese garden framing three large monoliths. The complex cut intro a valley with mossy trees, tranquil ponds, and towering cliffs. Along the facade of the cliff faces were hundreds of inlet caves, statues, and even entire pagodas. Winding pathways took us through the cliff side and above the valley on an elevated deck to a pagoda with an unbelievable view of the entire complex. This unprecedentedly beautiful vantage point has to be one of the most impressive sights I had the opportunity to witness in Japan.

There we met Antonie and Manabu Fujita, who were also visiting the monetary. We snapped pictures for one another, and made some idle chatter. Antonie was a former competitive kendo guy, who has made a name for himself in Japan and now sells t-shirts. Quite an interesting background and a couple fun guys to chat with.

On our way to the station, Tomika and I took a scenic route to a massive lake in the area, where people go jogging and play, similar to wash park but much bigger in scale. Makes Komatsu seem like a nice place to retire.

Then I parted ways with the guesthouse staff and ventured to Kanazawa. Being a larger city, Kanazawa has a very impressive station, with a massive modern style tori gate at the east side. While most of the architectural sites I have seen in Japan are ancient, this modern one was equally impressive.  I wandered to my very chic share hotel, which was much more of a modern, upscale hostel.





As it was pretty late, I went to a nearby ramen restaurant where I had some pleasant conversation with the owner, and then met one of the most unique persons I have come across in Japan. A farmer from the area, within moments this 66 year old man man challenged, and deftly defeated me at arm wrestling. He was incredibly colorful and energetic. A rather sharp guy too, despite the way he described himself. As I left, he hugged me for fun, and even convinced the reserved college student nearby to do the same! I had yet to meet such a charismatic human being in Japan! He definitely seems to live life to its fullest.

Thank you again to the wonderful hosts at Guesthouse Mikkaichi for one of the most memorable days of my time in Japan.