14 Mar, Day 6: Geishas and Samurai

This is the part of the trip I've been very much looking forward to: walking through the geisha and samurai districts of Kanazawa with a tour guide. Lynda had
contacted the Goodwill Guide organization; they have English-speaking volunteer guides who will give you a private tour. After an opulent breakfast buffet, we met up with our guide, Atsuko, and boarded the bus to the Higashi Chaya District, famous for its tea houses.
Historical fire tower. In case of fire, the bell on top was rung.

Bus map screen. You can't see it, but the little busses move on the screen according to their actual position so you can tell how far away it is.

Now, a tea house is not a place where you can drink tea, but you can party with geishas. And only if you have been recommended by someone who is well known in such circles. And only if you have around $300 for a 90-minute party (back in the day, there were no clocks and time was measured by how long a stick of incense burned. One stick is 45 minutes). Most costumers consist of business people and in order for them to have a good time and be distracted by such petty things as money, they don't pay directly, but the bill is sent twice a year. If the customer has money problems and can't pay, the person who introduced him/her has to pony up the cash. It's like a little insurance to keep the trailer trash out.

We learned that Kanazawa was founded by samurai and they lead a very somber lifestyle, meaning they didn't like any form of entertainment. So the castle was the center of town, surrounded by samurai residences so they could be called upon to defend the lord (daimyo) whenever necessary. Around the samurai residences were the merchants and they didn't mind partying one single bit, so that's where the geisha/tea houses were to be found.

The streets used to be lined with such tea houses, but nowadays there are only 7 such businesses left. The other houses have been converted to shops and restaurants. We were told that the youngest geisha is 20 and the oldest 87. Granny is very popular btw, because she has lots of interesting stories to tell.
Street lined with former tea houses.

One of these still functioning operations is named Kaikaro and offers tours during the day and one party per night. Whoever runs this house is very business savvy!
Steps at Kaikaro, leading to entertainment rooms

Entertainment rooms inside Kaikaro

Geisha makeup rooms

Room for special guests: the tatami mats are made with gold

Just us girls

Next stop: Nagamachi Buke Yashiki-ato District (samurai district). Some of these guys were allowed to live with their families outside of the castle circle and had their own houses. The streets are narrow and suddenly stop to be continued at a 90 degree angle. Enemy deterrent! We visited two houses: that of a middle class and of a lower class samurai.
Lynda and Atsuko, our guide

Samurai district

Inside the middle class samurai house. Notice the ropes tied to the tree branches: those are to support the branches during heavy snowfall. Almost all trees in the city are protected from breaking--lots of job opportunities for gardeners. They'll have to remove them soon for spring.






Lower class samurai house

That was the end of our tour with Atsuko, whom we learned so much from, but before she left she made us a reservation at Myoryuji Temple, also known as Ninja Temple. This temple has nothing to do with ninjas, but is only called that because it has so many clever hidden stairways, secret rooms and pitfalls that it is ninja-esque. And ninjas always are good for attracting attention, aka tourists.

Around the reserved time, people started taking their shoes off and lining up at the entrance. They had to tell their names to the tour guide, who checked them off her list. When it was our turn, we were handed a paper in English, asking if we agreed to basically be nice, not interfere with the tour, meaning not making fools of ourselves. Since we had no intentions on practicing any ninja moves today, we agreed and were allowed inside, where we were handed a binder in English with pictures so we could follow along. It was very cool and I can now understand why preschoolers are not allowed inside. Too many places for them to get lost. Hmmm, I know a person or two I should maybe suggest that tour to.

After a short excursion to a 100 yen shop and a brief down time at the hotel (this blog does not write itself), we went to our izikaya pub to taste the other half of the menu. Since it was our last night in Kanazawa and at the same time the first anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo-Kanazawa Shinkansen (bullet train) line, we went to our hotel's Sky Lounge Bar to celebrate. The view was great, the atmosphere was great, the drink was great, the prices were great. Great as in large. As in I can buy a small car for this price. Car or sake mojito? Mojito it is!