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Ocean breezes, smiling faces, exotic markets, and a laid-back pace.
Catherine Pawasarat finds Japanese-style relaxation on the shores of the Noto peninsula. The verdant Myojo-ji temple offers that otherworldly tranquility one somehow expects at Japanese temples, but rarely enjoys due to throngs of tourists … like oneself. Most of the buildings date back to the 1600s, and the architecture -- particularly a fine pagoda -- is exceptional. With varied countenances, baroque décor, and traces of cobalt and crimson paint, the ancient (and gargantuan) guardian statues and minute celestial beings floating above lintels reveal an intriguing influence from mainland Asia. This little-visited temple in the southwest corner of Noto Peninsula is just one of the area's many charms. Reclining with its feet on Honshu and its head in the Japan Sea, Noto Peninsula offers a great chance to tour windy, narrow coastal roads -- by car or touring bike -- with fantastic views of dramatic rock formations along the open water. It's also a kind of ideal Japan, boasting serene temples, friendly locals and a lively morning market, as well as exquisite lacquerware and its own unique form of taiko drumming. Keeping the Faith North of Myojo-ji the coast is pristine; the interplay of open sky and sea lined with craggy rock formations provide breathtaking scenery. Good, remarkably uncrowded roads along a winding coast make for fun and interesting driving, though touring bike would be an excellent way to go also. Here and there small hamlets are scattered. A quick clamber along one coastal outcropping revealed Japan’s oldest – and, perhaps, shortest -- wooden lighthouse; the doorway looks only high enough for a hobbit to fit through. Further north and inland is Sojo-ji temple, near the town of Monzen. Sojo-ji was the head temple of Zen Buddhism’s Soto sect from 1321 until the early 1900s, when this was still a formidably remote location. It remains a training temple, and when I saw young monks respectfully welcoming visitors at the main gate, I wondered -- is this part of their modern ascetic practices?
I headed further
north up the peninsula to the major city of Wajima. Here the daily morning
market is fun and intriguing, with an almost southeast Asian feel.
Weather-worn wooden buildings line the streets and lean with age. Locals'
faces are similarly tanned and lined with decades of life at sea. The women
proffer their regional wares and many dress traditionally, with pointed
straw hats and indigo kasuri (ikat) monpei trousers. “You like chopsticks?” asked a vendor as I handed her the pair I wanted to buy. She didn’t wait for my answer, but popped the extra chopsticks in my bag for free. Others smiled while enthusiastically encouraging me to sample their produce. This ranged from the usual dried wakame seaweed to the more bizarre mounds of squid mouths and octopus mouths piled on high.
Sights and Sounds The Noto peninsula is famous for its lacquerware, and the prices are good. Other local specialties are handmade wooden toys and handmade washi paper with various flowers mixed in. There are a number of good museums in Wajima that show the region's finest lacquer works, and places to observe ongoing production. There craftspeople sit seiza on tatami in small, virtually airless rooms, painstakingly painting on and buffing down layer after layer of the sticky black goo, until it is as smooth and shiny as silk. Nearby beckoned the Kiriko Kaikan, basically a warehouse full of the floats from the Wajima Taisai festival, and a sort of temple to regional Japanese kitsch. The floats are covered in lacquer and decorated with dramatic, three storey-high paintings – like a twisting dragon or mighty samurai -- on washi paper. Tacky old gaijin mannequins in yukata pose comically on the floats, while the many smoking areas next to the blatantly flammable floats gave me something to scratch my head over. The kaikan has good photos showing the astonishing feat of locals hoisting the three-storey structures on their shoulders around town and right out to sea.
Wajima also
offers up a short nightly concert of Gojinjo Daiko, the local version
of taiko drumming. Wearing ancient wooden masks of various demeanors,
several local men threw themselves into the mesmerizing drumming with great
zeal. As the story goes, 400 years ago townspeople discovered they were to
be attacked by a great army. A handful of resourceful fishermen dressed up
in oni devil masks, complete with seaweed hair, and beat furiously on
drums all night. The would-be invaders were either frightened away or
decided to disassociate themselves from such bizarre people, and a fine
drumming tradition was born.
Moving along the coast to Sosogi, on the eastern side of the peninsula, I dropped in on Kamitokikunike, one of two historic homes still occupied by descendents of Taira clan. Eight centuries ago some of the Taira escaped slaughter at the hands of the Minamoto by fleeing to remote Noto. The displayed artifacts were a little worse for wear, but provide an interesting window on life in exile. Family members still live here, and all radiate a dignified, melancholy air of what might have been -- and what life can be like outside Japan's big cities. Getting there The Noto peninsula is easily accessible from Kanazawa City, which is 3.5 hours and about 12,000 yen one way by train from Tokyo: Take the MaxAsahi shinkansen to Echigoyuzawa (82 minutes), then transfer to the Limited Express Hakutaka 6 (150 minutes) to Kanazawa. Hokuriku Tetsudo runs 11 buses a day from Kanazawa to Wajima (stops in Sosogi), and four a day to Monzen. Both trips take about two hours and cost just over 2,200 yen one way (tel. 076-237-5115)Where to stay The tourist information offices inside Kanazawa station or next to the Wajima bus terminal supply maps and can assist with accommodation and travel bookings. The Noto peninsula is dotted with minshuku, with nightly lodging costing about 6500 yen/person with two meals. Lodging options in Wajima include Heiwa-so (0768-22-0318), Mangetsu (0768-22-4487) and Shiranami (0768-22-1180). More information The Wajima tourist info office can provide more maps and information than you’ll ever need. Being off the beaten path, it’s all in Japanese. If your language skills aren’t up to scratch, patience and a sense of adventure will serve you well. In Wajima, just about everything is within walking distance, or a quick ride by bike, car or taxi. More information’s available at http://www.hot-ishikawa.jp/f-lang/english/index.html and www.jnto.go.jp/eng . *gaijin = foreigner
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Once
inside the main gate, a life-sized vermilion sculpture of a Chinese sage
solemnly challenged me to show my Zen. Guests (including gaijin*) may
stay overnight and practice zazen in the early morning hours. The many
small, individually-painted panels on the ceiling of the small Hoko-do are
exquisite, and hint at Buddhist themes: a crescent moon hovers above tossing
ocean waves, a dragon clutches the pearl of wisdom, and a skull evokes human
mortality. 
