Today was our first official day touring. Kanazawa is a pretty chill country sort of place, reminded me a bit of Omori, but just a little more country (it’s freakin cold out here!). Today we visited the 21st Century Museum of Art, Kimono-KagaUzen, Kenroken Garden, and visited/had dinner with a living national treasure/artisan Professor Nakagawa.
21st Center Museum of Art: Comparable to MOCA in LA, the exhibition was your typical selection of modern art with amazing instillations, an extraordinary venue complete with a skylight room designed by James Turrel. Rad.
Kimono-KagaUzen: Visited the house/studio of a famous kimono maker that specialized in traditional inking process made famous in Kanazawa, the pieces and process were amazing and studio time with the master was intimate and humbling. Pieces ranged from 7800￥, to full kimonos at 4,000,000￥．
Kenroken Garden: It’s like Huntington’s Japanese garden on crack. Beautiful in the sunshine and the rain (amazing in the snow… sadly not cold enough yet).
Professor Nakagawa: Visited the home/studio of a national treasure through personal relations of Ikezaki-Sensei. The man is known for his innovations in metal work, and hand tool crafting (earlier in the day we visited his student who teaches at a Kanazawa art school). Later that night we had dinner with Nakagawa and his family… it was an amazing honor and the food was excellent.
Tomorrow: Off to Kyoto for 5 days (without internet), super excited and enjoying some much needed time off from the group for at least a few hours.
having a beer, uploading more fotos, and missing the lady ;)
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