THE LIVING LEGACY OF SAMURAI CULTURE

A jungle oasis inside Tokyo. The world of rush green spreads just a hundred or so feet below streets supporting cars and large crowds. The noise and heat are insulated by dense slopes of bamboo-leaf oaks, Japanese zelkova and Yedo hornbeam. Shallow water trickles alongside the footpath. I found our Saturday morning walk through to be remarkably calming.

Shuuichi, near the Todoroki stop on the Oimachi Line, is a beautiful way to follow a morning spent wandering Todoroki Valley. The cozy second-floor shop does dipping noodles and curried flavors notably well, but I pressed in (on the ticket vending machine) an order of the black sesame tantamen, which was absolutely delicious. On my next visit to Tokyo, I will return for another bowl.

I didn't know you could do this, and I loved it. I don't know much about sake, but in Japan, as anywhere, I like to let the local customs around alcohol consumption teach me something. Sake tasting by the glass is a great way to learn.

Shinjuku Gyoen is a giant breath of green space. Once, it belonged to a daimyō (subordinate to the shogun). Later it was an imperial garden, almost flattened in WWII. Today it's a park and a great place to unwind.

Shinjuku is a rabbit hole, and I was happy to get to step inside for a short while. Curious, brave travelers must budget time for Shinjuku's sensory bacchanal, if only to visit Golden Gai. Even though it was mostly dormant in the late afternoon, it was a favorite.

Mimiu, in Shinjuku, is part of a chain of restaurants that dates back nearly 250 years. The house specialty udon-suki dinner is centered around a communal pot of slow-simmered dashi broth, alongside which comes a tray packed with udon noodles, proteins, and vegetables ready to be cooked in it. The noodles and mushrooms were great.

From Shibuya station, you can walk to Shibuya Tokyu REI Hotel in just minutes. This makes it a convenient homebase from which to explore Shibuya. The combination of location, attendant staff and breakfast spread (including some dynamite fresh-blended carrot juice) make it a good place to stay the night.

It is so very easy to ride the Shinkansen around Japan. You can travel from Tokyo to Kanazawa by Hokuriku Arch Pass, and the rail stations are well-marked (including in English), departures are punctual, and seats are comfortable with plenty of legroom. My reserved seat came with an empty seat beside it and clear views of the green countryside rushing past.

Kanazawa's bustling rail hub is a beautifully easy space to navigate, and just plain beautiful. Help is available, as it often is at Japanese transit hubs, to English speakers in the form of help desks, luggage storage and delivery service, and free volunteer tour guides of the city. Within the walls of its rail station, Kanazawa proves it can handle even the least prepared English-speaking travelers.

Such a wonderful meal. This is the kind of experience that will keep me returning to Japan for as long as I'm able to travel. A selection of ten pieces were placed delicately, one by one, in front of us with a request that they be eaten wihout edit within three seconds (to preserve the flavors intended by the chefs).

Kanazawa is responsible for 99% of Japan's total gold leaf production. The world of gold leaf was mostly foreign to me prior to visiting this part of the world, so I was happy to dive inside it on a quick visit to Gold Leaf Sakuda. Inside I witnessed again the respect for craftsmanship by hand. I also liked my matcha ice pop rolled in gold leaf and gold-specked roasted tea. Nearby at Shima Teahouse, the wooden world of the chaya ("teahouse") tradition was given texture. The house was beautiful.

Higashi Chaya district is a great place for an after-lunch walk. Rows of wooden chaya have stood two-stories tall since 1820. The old chaya are today great for pictures and effective in transporting visitors like me far, far from home to the romantic Japan of their imaginations. The soy sauce ice cream added to the experience.

I was happy to find Kenroku-en Garden, one of Japan's three finest gardens, in peak summer form on the day of my visit. Kanazawa is given tremendous service by Kenroku-en Garden and its many trees. Peace is easy to find inside, as is historical context.

The "park-like" 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art is one of the most enjoyable museums I've had the pleasure of visiting. In 2004, it opened on the grounds of a shuddered school. Today its magnificent, clean-white lines (drawn by architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa) provide contour for both permanent and temporary exhibitions while the perimeter greens host satellite exhibits that engage—for free—adults and kids alike. The musuem attracts art lovers from across the world but also, notably, provides a rare window into modern art for the uninitiated.

Hacchouya's dinner includes a ton of food. I liked the tempura skewers, among other things, and the meal as a nice close to an evening in Kanazawa.

The Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel is to my understanding a step above the standard rooming options in Kanazawa. It's western-style, clean and well-appointed. My room on the top floor was spacious and comfortable, but its best feature may have been its views of the mountain-backed city below. The service was also outstanding.

The samurai history of Japan is alluring, I think, even to visitors who don't know its deeper history. I for one found the guided walk through the samurai district and Nomura Samurai House to be a highlight of my time in Kanazawa.

I love a market like this, and so I loved Omicho Market. I purchased and ate, for just a few hundred yen: a green tea soy latte, baby scallops on a skewer, and unagi on a skewer. All were delicious. The unagi skewer was unforgettably good.

To arrive on Notojima from Kanazawa, it's an hour's JR train to Wakuraonsen and then a short bus onto the island over a small bridge. The rail leg, like all trips by rail I have taken in Japan, was easy, comfortable.

The looping roads of Japan’s Noto Island ("Notojima") are ideal for cycling, both to the east and to the west, but also for examinations-by-bicycle of the rice paddies, overflowing vegetable patches and fish-filled waters. The tour was long but not strenuous, informative but not boring.

Each nightly feast at Sansuiso guesthouse is an affair to be remembered, built of rainbowed fish caught hours before in water you can see from your room. Mine included a wooden boat packed with fresh sashimi and supplementary dishes like yellowtail (buri) with radish and sweet glaze. It was one of the best meals I can remember.

Sansuiso guesthouse is a dream. Each of the four beautiful tatami-mat rooms can sleep a family of four. The genial owner speaks little English. His family, too, communicates largely in smiles and hospitality, which in season includes trips to a neighbor's dock to view neon-glowing crustaceans and lightning bugs in the rural darkness.

I really enjoyed seeing Wajima by electric bike beneath the warm summer sky I was granted. The efficiency of our Wajima visit is a credit to Wajima's, as well as all of Japan's, tourism preparedness.

Wajima's morning market (every morning from 8am to 12pm) is roughly 1,000-years old. That alone makes it worth checking out, but my quick walk through also allowed me a chance to taste a handful of new treats, including egara manju just before it sold out.

For a hidden-away Italian restaurant in Wajima, Japan, this was a delicious lunch. I got the tagliatelle with Noto pork with cream sauce and zucchini off the list of daily specials.

Wajima's famous lacquerware, another of Ishikawa's traditional crafts, comes to market only after an extraordinarily hands-on process. At Wajima Kobo Nagaya I tried my own hand at finishing in gold some black lacquerware chopsticks for my girlfriend. An experience like this is required, I think, for a full appreciation of lacquerware and the respect reserved for craftsmen in Ishikawa.

There are more than 200 festivals in Ishikawa between July and October. In pursuit of a full understanding of what this means, I found the Kiriko Art Museum to be a worthwhile stop. The videos of the festivals, in which raging fires and delirious crowds pop off the screen, bring life to this critical aspect of Ishikawa life. As a museum, I found the experience efficient.

In Tokyo, I once again found the energy of a world-class city. In Ishikawa, I found restful nights and communities proud of their historical contributions to this same, multi-faceted Japan of today. As a whole, Japan showed me once again that is fit to welcome all travelers—including those returning for a fourth time. I can't wait to return.