Concept Hotel WAQ

Toyama Station

We bought tickets of the "Ainokaze Toyama Railway" to Kanazawa. The crowd on the platform had formed into distinct groups, and we followed a few scattered people directly into a completely empty car, only to be shooed by station staff to the front cars. When we arrived in Kanazawa, we discovered the entire train only had two cars left—the car we'd first entered had mysteriously disappeared.

After boarding, we stood next to a lady with her legs crossed. There was a window seat next to her. Her sitting posture made the space very cramped, and dragging our luggage around was a hassle, so we didn't think about sitting down. Later, when another woman came and asked to pass by to sit in the window seat, the first lady immediately got up and left.

Kanazawa Station

We went straight to catch a taxi—there was a taxi stand right outside the station. The driver also knew about OMO5, so communication wasn't too complicated. The driver also mentioned that the road in front of the hotel was closed to traffic, so he could only drop us off at the intersection, looking very apologetic. In reality, the intersection was just a couple of steps from the hotel—the driver was being way too polite.

There was a McDonald's at the intersection. A few years ago when Bobo went skiing in Nozawa, Bobo had strawberry croissants at this location, and Bobo still remember them fondly.

OMO5

After locking our luggage in the storage lockers, we walked directly to the D.T. Suzuki Museum.

D.T. Suzuki Museum

A notice outside explained that it was something like Ishikawa Prefecture Art Day, so the museum wasn't as quiet as usual. The Water Mirror Garden would make movements every few minutes (some say water gushes out, not sure), creating ripples that spread outward in all directions. When browsing the museum materials, they mentioned Basho's "old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water"—I wonder if the sounds from the Water Mirror Garden are related to this.

After leaving the D.T. Suzuki Museum, we wandered around the area a bit more. Next door was "Shofukaku Garden." "Shofukaku" has special meaning for Bobo. Although it's probably just a coincidence that they share the same name, Huang Tingjian has a work called "Shofukaku" that's now in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The nearby Zhishan Garden also has a Shofukaku, and even displays a stele inscription for it. When Bobo was in college, a senior in the calligraphy club had a rubbing of this stele mounted and hung it in the club office, so he often saw this rubbing when I spent time there.

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Nana's target, the "Swimming Pool," required reservations, which was different from when Xiao Ge visited and it was empty. After deciding to come back tomorrow, we walked around a bit and then went to find food.

Fu.

A small three-story shop that looked like it was run by just one person. We ordered curry rice and Japanese Keema (we'd had it in Kamakura last year). After Nana finished, she told the owner "delicious" and asked how to say it in Japanese. The owner very earnestly taught us how to pronounce "umai."

Kanazawa Architecture Museum

The full name is "Yoshiro & Yoshio Taniguchi - Museum of Architecture, Kanazawa". Yoshio Taniguchi designed the D.T. Suzuki Museum, and Yoshiro Taniguchi is Yoshio Taniguchi's father. Yoshiro Taniguchi designed Yushintei, the Japanese-style annex of the State Guest House Akasaka Palace (formerly the Crown Prince's residence), and when Yoshio Taniguchi designed the Kanazawa Architecture Museum, he recreated part of Yushintei inside the museum.

Nishi Chaya District

By the time we reached the Kanazawa Architecture Museum, we were already very close to Nishi Chaya District, so we walked over to take a look. However, since Nishi Chaya District is relatively small and we'd be going to Higashi Chaya District the next day anyway, we just wandered around casually and then left.

OMO5

Two hours that disappeared from memory… We went shopping nearby. At least we only bought a belt.

Mawaru Sushi Morimori Sushi Katamachi

We first ordered two servings of sushi plus miso soup, and they quickly arrived on the sushi train. After finishing, we still wanted more, and we also wanted to film the sushi train. So we ordered another serving and immediately pulled out a simple tripod to set up the filming. Not long after, the chef personally brought the sushi to our table… so we quietly put the camera away.