Area Around Kanazawa: Kiriko in Wajima, a Castle, a Temple

In Wajima, we went to their local matsuri festival. They carry these towering portable shinto shrines (kiriko), singing and chanting.

Each neighborhood or shrine had their own kiriko and it was a contest of sorts to see who could make the best one.

They used to carry them along the streets but now there are too many low hung power lines. They are pretty much restricted to a parking lot.

This area is at a cliff where a head priest was pushed over for being a boozing womanizer. I think the story has it that the monk that did it was jealous.

I thought this set of stairs looked just like the entrance to the amusement park in Spirited Away. Oink! Oink!

This is the site of an old samurai village.

They've rebuilt some of the village. Above is an example of what the street would've looked like.

Here's an aerial view of a model, showing what the entire place was like.

Here is the oldest, non-replica castle tower, in Japan.

This map shows the original layout of the castle. The tower is in the upper left hand area of the complex.

The tower's purpose was simply to keep an eye on the surrounding territory.

Access to the upper floors were by steep sets of staircases. This saved space and also prevented one's enemies from rushing up them. They seemed as steep and narrow as the stairs in Iwabe Castle.

Here's the entrance to Eihei-ji. It's the head temple of a temple here in Yokosuka that has Noriko's dad's family at rest.

On the grounds of Eihei-ji

Inside Eihei-ji

Inside Eihei-ji

So you can get an idea of how large this complex is, here's the map. The first picture was taken at the far left of this map.

Finally, at Haneda Airport, there were these cool little displays. It's some kind of paper mache mixed medium.

Kanazawa: A funeral, a parade, a wedding, a sunset.

We returned to Kanazawa to take care of unfinished business. The waiting period was over and it was time to take Noriko's Uncle's remains to his final resting area. This pictures shows the view from the restaurant where we ate lunch, after we finished up at the temple. See the green roofed building that doesn't really match the others? That's the temple. I just noticed that that tree looks pretty big, too.

It just so happened, there was a major Kanazawa festival while we were there. Every year, they reenact a wedding procession of a famous samurai- Maeda. The dashing lad in the above picture is portraying Mr. Maeda. Apparently, this guy is a famous actor. As he passed, so did a huge throng of fans. Mostly women and they were all holding up there cellphone cameras, screaming, "Look at me! Look this way!"

A famous wedding? Well, this girl is portraying the girl that was married on that day, long ago. She was an 11 year old bride. Maybe I'm just not old fashioned enough, but that seems a little young! I didn't even scream "Look at me!" but I managed to catch the lucky lady's attention.

This is what I'd call a Glamourai. He looks like the other member of KISS and I had to ask if he was supposed to be some kind of undead samurai. That would be cool.

The parade was a good time to show off Miss Kanazawa (I don't know which one she is- does it matter?) See that girl with her arms crossed? See that look she's giving her date? I think that's the same look Noriko gave me when I took the picture.

Not dressed in golden armor or a silken kimono, nobody seemed to interested in this lone boy scout. He didn't seem too plussed, either.

This samurai was very antsy about his antsy horse. They both seemed to be sharing their first day on the job.

The procession ended at Kanazawa Castle, just like it did, back on that happy day. J-Pop snapped his picture. I have no idea who those other two people are (The two on the far right- the two on the far left are Noriko and me).

Also, on the day's schedule, was a kabuki kind of thing where two guys fight each other to a draw (they are trying to win the honor of fighting a dragon-thing). After a tie, they both fight and defeat the dragon.

Across the street from the castle is the Kenrouken Park. During this holiday, they open the gates and light up the park. Here is a couple enjoying a romantic view within the walls.

A sunset in Wajima

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