Hotspring on Noto Peninsula
We spent some time on the Noto peninsula recently. On the way up I stopped one night in Kanazawa, which is kind of like a pleasant version of Kyoto, almost small enough to be walkable.
The station is being reconstructed, with the front entrance a stylized torii.
It used to be that there were no tall buildings in Kanazawa. Now, just outside the station is a monster hotel run by ANA, where I stayed last time. And since then, JAL has built a hotel about twice as tall, strategically located exactly to block the view for ANA guests (and of course I stayed at the monster JAL hotel).
I’ve visited Kanazawa countless times over the years. And on this visit I spent a lot of time thinking about all the changes from the first time I visited: a modern train station, English signs in the tourist areas, broader streets, tall buildings, children who don’t scream in terror and run from me, and I realized with some surprise that my first visit to Kanazawa was 18 years ago. So now I’ve become one of those pathetic old people who walk around muttering about How Things Used to Be.
Moving up the peninsula, I spent three hours on the Noto Tetsudou, a picturesque railway line with about 50 tunnels that moves slowly up the coast. It is being closed in March 2005 because it can’t seem to make a profit. Although the train was quite full, I was probably the only paying passenger: the other passengers were either old people or students, who ride at a significant discount. So there is no shortage of riders, but a large shortage of paying riders. Perhaps if the train company had tried eliminating discounts it might have stopped losing money. But it’s too late now. Besides, the new Noto airport has changed transportation patterns; tourists tend to fly in and take taxis to their destinations rather than figuring out the local train system.
After that ride, and a 20-minute taxi, we went past this local landmark and turned right, towards the sea.
Here are pictures of the onsen. Click the thumbnails to see large versions with my comments.
