Most of today was dedicated to commuting to Kanazawa. Once in the city we made our way to the Kenrokuen Garden. The name means “garden of six qualities”. It was given this name for it possesses the attributes of spaciousness, seclusion, air of antiquity, ingenuity, flowing water, and scenic views. In Japan they like to pick the top three of everything (top three gardens, top three views, and top three castles…). This garden happens to be one of the top three gardens. I would also recommend visiting it while the autumn leaves are changing color and try to come early to avoid crowds and to catch the morning light. We strolled around the garden for about an hour and a half. We later discovered that you can join a free English tour of the garden, but in order to join you need to go to the tourist information booth near the castle. Entry into the garden is 310 yen and an additional 700 yen if you want to go into the Seison-kaku Villa. I didn’t think it was worth the money and thus did not go in. It was built by the 13th Lord of the Maeda family for his mother. Sorry, Mom I don’t currently have the funds to build you a villa. All I got is love J.
I will give you a bit of background on the Maeda family and a very watered down explanation of the political structure at the time of their power. Under the shogunate system there was one shogun who was the political and military leader of the country. The emperor was the religious figure head of the country. Each region was controlled and managed by a daimyo (or feudal lord). Samurai then sore allegiance to their daimyo. The Kanazawa region was controlled by the Maeda family and many generations of Maeda daimyos. At one time their family was the most powerful behind the shogun himself. This led several shoguns to be uncomfortable. In response to this several Maeda daimyos created alliances with their current shogun in hopes of avoiding a civil war. One Maeda daimyo married his 7 year old son to the 3 year old granddaughter of the shogun. Man talk about arranged marriage! She ended up having 7 children and dying during childbirth at 27. Just in case peace did not last the Maeda family made Kanazawa a stronghold. They built a huge castle and cut down all the trees in the surrounding hills to prevent enemies from gathering out of sight. In other words, the Maeda family was in power of the region for a long time and were extremely powerful. To tie all this back to Kenrokuen Garden, it was the Maeda’s castle garden and backyard.
After the garden we headed to our separate hosts. My host is named Mercedes and is from Kentucky. She is currently participating in the JET program. For many years I have strongly considered applying to the JET program and teaching in Japan. One main reason I didn’t was that the application process takes about a year and you need to be in the US for interviews. Talking with her really makes me want to stay in Asia for another year of work (don’t worry Mom, I won’t). She is a really friendly and talkative person. She had great stories to share about her first month here. Including some of the odd aspects of Japanese schools. For example, she was asked to join for a school trip. She thought they would be going to Kyoto or to a museum. Nope, all the students are walking round trip 26 miles to the ocean and back. It sounds like teaching in Japan would be a completely different experience from teaching in Taiwan.
Tomorrow will be spent exploring Kanazawa!
I will give you a bit of background on the Maeda family and a very watered down explanation of the political structure at the time of their power. Under the shogunate system there was one shogun who was the political and military leader of the country. The emperor was the religious figure head of the country. Each region was controlled and managed by a daimyo (or feudal lord). Samurai then sore allegiance to their daimyo. The Kanazawa region was controlled by the Maeda family and many generations of Maeda daimyos. At one time their family was the most powerful behind the shogun himself. This led several shoguns to be uncomfortable. In response to this several Maeda daimyos created alliances with their current shogun in hopes of avoiding a civil war. One Maeda daimyo married his 7 year old son to the 3 year old granddaughter of the shogun. Man talk about arranged marriage! She ended up having 7 children and dying during childbirth at 27. Just in case peace did not last the Maeda family made Kanazawa a stronghold. They built a huge castle and cut down all the trees in the surrounding hills to prevent enemies from gathering out of sight. In other words, the Maeda family was in power of the region for a long time and were extremely powerful. To tie all this back to Kenrokuen Garden, it was the Maeda’s castle garden and backyard.
After the garden we headed to our separate hosts. My host is named Mercedes and is from Kentucky. She is currently participating in the JET program. For many years I have strongly considered applying to the JET program and teaching in Japan. One main reason I didn’t was that the application process takes about a year and you need to be in the US for interviews. Talking with her really makes me want to stay in Asia for another year of work (don’t worry Mom, I won’t). She is a really friendly and talkative person. She had great stories to share about her first month here. Including some of the odd aspects of Japanese schools. For example, she was asked to join for a school trip. She thought they would be going to Kyoto or to a museum. Nope, all the students are walking round trip 26 miles to the ocean and back. It sounds like teaching in Japan would be a completely different experience from teaching in Taiwan.
Tomorrow will be spent exploring Kanazawa!
