The next morning we woke up relatively early from the jet lag and eventually took these photos of the town of Kanazawa below us and then of our room and the cookies that had been left to greet us and the shoehorns which were to be a staple of our time in Japan so that we gained a sense of how to present our own shoehorns. In time, we went down to the hotel breakfast which was a mixture of Western food with Japanese food along with some foods we found unusual including solid pieces of omelet French fries with ketchup and pasta. This was the first plate I assembled together with needed coffee and this was Suzanne's start along with this salad and fruit plate which made her partially awake as was I in this self portrait before we decided to walk to the train station next door where we saw this interesting label on a taxi recorded a license plate took the obligatory phone booth picture and this photo of the local goddess before we went into a store and I recorded some of their wares including the individual bananas and the models of plates of food as we started out of the train station and saw the arch which we grew to know from temples and shrines and the benches with flower pots as people in a distance waited to board their bus. Suzanne posed in front of the station for what would be one of our few rainless moments in Kanazawa.

Our day began when we met Jeff, our translator, and our driver for the day's activities which began with a visit to the language program where we went to the classrooms and recorded lessons including this scene where 2 students were acting out part of a story and then to Professor Makino's class before we headed to the castle in Kanazawa which had belonged to the feudal lord and were joined by a tour guide who took us through the castle and Kenryokuen gardens with the help of Jeff translating. We began with a look at the walls of the castle and the moat around them as the rain picked up a bit and then noted the vastness of the castle which was enormous as we noted our first tree that was being supported by poles. This became a common site in gardens where trees had been groomed for beauty (and quite successfully) but had lost the ability to support themselves in the process. It was necessary to think of these as gardens designed for perfection (and indeed they were) rather than as forests which present natural habitats. We were still at the castle

and noted the small gaps through which arrows and guns could be shot against enemy invaders. At one of the gates, I noted this remarkable header that involved a serious piece of wood and put it in the context of the castle before we came to the one gate that was totally preserved which consisted of 2 parts with a bend in between to make it harder for enemy invaders and we made our way through the gate to the other side where after passing some shops we found ourselves in the gardens looking at a waterfall and then making our way into the gardens which had bridges and (unfortunately) rain and we made our way across a bridge in the rain to a viewpoint where we saw the first of many lanterns and an island in the lake as Suzanne led the way with remarkable views including those to the island and the beautiful bushes by the shore with fish in the water and a small structure across the way as each view was beautiful and a sense of perfection reigned through islands and brooks and this natural fountain that was gravity driven and is thought to be the first such fountain ever created since it needed no machinery. It was clear why the gardens were so beautiful when we saw the crews working at manicuring the gardens in detail. The moss was equally impressive as we continued to be amazed by the gardens including reflections

before we came to the location of the photo op with the remarkable view and so I took Suzanne's photo and then we posed together and continued our tour of the gardens admiring this bamboo structure that was designed to cover up a drain so that no one would fall in. Back to the gardens, we continued through this water with grasses and then to some banzai and then this tree with warning sign and various garden views of bridges before we found this bird by the moss and trees before the bird presented itself and we came across this statue to the war dead complete with details as we marched on to what I thought was the most remarkable tree along with its support structure and we made our way further through the gardens before we stopped to have the tea ceremony on tatami mats looking out at those who had recently finished the ceremony. A small cake was served on this beautiful plate as the tea was served and placed properly on our left hands and then we were to rotate it two small turns before drinking in 3 or 4 shots while looking out at this beautiful scene

including these trees and this little rock and amidst the trees were the local gardeners doing their work even as we looked back to the tea room in its quiet elegance. This tree showed the scars of having been drained of its sap to make turpentine for the war effort in 1945. After one final photo, we found ourselves back at the hotel for lunch.

Next, it was time to go visit with the governor of the Ishikawa Prefecture and after our conversation and the exchange of gifts, I posed with him and then he posed with Suzanne and me. While at the prefecture headquarters, we went to the observation deck on the top floor and took photos in all directions of rice fields amid properties and out to the sea as this woman was describing before we went back to the scenery on our own and then headed back to the hotel for the conference about the Ishikawa Japanese Language program which was followed by a reception where Suzanne had this sushi. Back at the room, I noted the marvelous properties of our toilet. When you approach the cover rises and as you walk away, the toilet flushes itself. A nice technology on which to end the day.