From Kanazawa: Temples, Panoramic Landscape and Butterflies

A short distance outside of the city center of Kanazawa is Tsurugi, a small town often overlooked by tourists to the area. Tsurugi has 2,000 years of history as an important site for religious worship
This tour will start at Kanazawa Station at 9:00 A.M., where your guide will meet you in front of the Information Center near the Shinkansen Ticket Gates.

Once everyone is accounted for, we will head out. The first ride of the day is one of Japan’s local trains out to and through the countryside. The destination is Tsurugi, a small town in the mountains that was and is famous for soy sauce, sake and, most importantly for today’s tour, Shinto.

The old townscape is pleasant to stroll in and the natural sights give that feeling of escape. A shrine called Kikengu, in historical records from the 1st century BC, really shows off what shrines look like in snowy locations and how they are protected. The approach is also fairly unique, with an underground tunnel right before entering the shrine grounds.

If the weather is good, we will walk out of the town to the next area. The stroll along the river is really nice and leads us to a water system that was created in the late 1800s to control waterflow. It looks like a water park with water flowing on aqueducts above, below and everywhere. The history of water systems is not something you can see so easily now that everything has gone underground or is managed by dams.

After a short walk from seeing the water system we will arrive at the sando or ‘approach’ to the shrine. The often moss covered stairs that lead into more forest gives an almost mystical feel. The surviving records say that this shrine has existed in some form since the year 297, with the first building on Mt. Hakusan as early as 91 BC, and is the head shrine for all Shirayama shrines all over Japan. This shrine worships the god of the mountain Hakusan and is prayed to for clean and clear life-giving water. Feel the connection to history, tradition and the mountains.

It’s lunch time! There are a couple of restaurants at the entrance of the shrine that you can choose from so ask you guide for recommendations.

A short distance from the shrine is an activity park that celebrates the Chinese lion and the dance performed with them. You can see some examples of the heads around the complex. But the real reason for coming to this area is the gondola which brings you way above the town and gives stunning views of the mountains and plains below.

On a small hill right outside the main town area is the Ishikawa Prefectural Insect Museum. There are about 20 different types of insects, including Hercules beetles but the main draw for visitors is the butterflies. There are over 1000 butterflies of different colors, shapes and sizes.

After getting our fill of butterflies, it’s time to start the journey back to Kanazawa. First we’ll head to Tsurugi Station before getting on the train towards the city. Once we arrive back at Kanazawa Station it will be time to say goodbye. I hope you enjoyed the adventure to the gateway to the mountains and their gods!

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