Kanazawa Favorites

Favorite thing: Kanazawa -- the jewel on of the west coast of Japan. I have lived here for nearly five years and it is simply fabulous. Not big by Japanese 'city standards' (about 500,000), it is nestled between the Sea of Japan coast and the western fringe of the Japanese Alps and, most notably, Mt. Hakusan - ”’ŽR. With wonderful weather (warm winters with lots of snow for skiing and snowboarding and hot summer with plenty of places to hit the beach) and fantastic people, it is a place that no one should skip during their travels to Japan. And, how could I forget, Kenroku-en Garden - Œ“˜Z‰€?? One of Japan's 'Garden Triumvirate ', Kenroku-en Garden exemplifies the six aspects of a truly perfect, Japanese garden - extensiveness, quiet seclusion, artificial construction, antique elgance, abundant water and wide prospect . But there is so much more....all waiting for to and hoping you will come and experience it. Welcome to Kanazawa.

Fondest memory: Too many to mention here but, if you would like to know something about Kanazawa, please feel free to contact me anytime -- I mean, it is my job here in Kanazawa!!

The picture below is of Kaga Tobi - the daring, acrobatic firefighters from the Kaga Region and Kanazawa city. They perform daring feats (without saftey nets or ropes) on bamboo ladders up to 8m high. This demonstration is centuries old and was first performed to reassure the local people that the firefighters were 'tough enough' to fight the fires and protect them. I'm convinced!