Picking up the pieces in Japan.

[drron]

Now going around to the other side of the castle.

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[drron]

The last of the castle.

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Now we headed downhill to Gyokusen'inmaru park.

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[drron]

This is so worth the walk dow from the castle.We were lucky as it was one of only 2 sightseeing days with good weather.So the light, shadows and reflections made it even better.

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This garden was started in 1634 by the 3rd lord of the Kaga dynasty.It was built on the site of the residence of the wife of the 2nd lord which was
removed after her death.Her name was Gyokusen’in hence the name of the garden.The garden was abandoned in the late 1800s.It was excavated in 2008 and with info from that and old drawings the garden was rebuilt opening in 2015.
A waterfall from the patterned stone wall was a feature- Shikishi Tanzaku-Zumi Stone Wall.This is much the same as it was found in the excavation.

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[drron]

The view changes as you descend.

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[craven morehead]

The view changes as you descend.

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What a beautiful spot !!

 

[drron]

There is a second waterfall-the stepped waterfall-it wasn't in good shape at the excavation so possibly not completely like it used to be.

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[drron]

The last of these gardens.

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Again one of the reasons we like Japan is the people. There was an older Japanese man here as a volunteer giving people information about the garden and it's history. He had very good English so after a chat he volunteered to take our photo.

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Now this garden is mainly about form but there were the occasional flower and funghi.

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[drron]

There was an extension of the garden sometimes called the Moat garden.It has not been restored but objects from the Excavation of the garden are on view.

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Where you leave the garden is very close to the Museum of the 21st Century and the JR bus stop.And of course the old trees.

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We had done a lot of walking and were feeling exhausted so decided to go back to the hotel for a nanny nap.
But a piece of street art at Kanazawa station first.

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[love_the_life]

There was an extension of the garden sometimes called the Moat garden.It has not been restored but objects from the Excavation of the garden are on view.

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Where you leave the garden is very close to the Museum of the 21st Century and the JR bus stop.And of course the old trees.

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We had done a lot of walking and were feeling exhausted so decided to go back to the hotel for a nanny nap.
But a piece of street art at Kanazawa station first.

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We liked the teapot at the station - used to walk past it every day.
From memory we walked up from the gardens to the castle; your path down seems much preferable.

 

[drron]

Definitely better to walk downhill at our age.
Caught the end of a Kanazawa sunset as we went out for dinner.

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Again across to the building at the other end of the station.A simple meal this time-tonkatsu. Germans like this and there was a German family at the next table.There was a naughty little boy but he was quiet.Mother though talked non stop in a very loud and harsh voice.The food. Simple but nice.

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The next morning we were headed to Kata on Lake Biwa.Quickest way is by the Thunderbird Ltd Express.The early morning ones do stop at Katata but that meant leaving before 8am. So we decided on a late morning with a relaxed breakfast with time to wander around the food places at the station to select our boxed lunches.So we caught T18 which left after 11am.
When we got to the station this train was there.

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But it was going in the wrong direction and is another of the JR Ltd expresses.
Ours was along a little later.

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[drron]

Most of the way the land was very flat. Mostly rice paddies with views to the mountains. Several rivers crossed.

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A few stops.this was one.

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In places it appeared they were putting in an extra track. at this spot only very early preparations.

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Time for lunch.

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And our first glimpse of Lake Biwa. Japan's largest lake.

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[drron]

The lake really is big.

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Rice harvesting in full swing.

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And many small solar farms.

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[drron]

It was a lovely day.

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And this is a rice harvester- well part of one.Slightly bigger than a bobcat.

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The building on the left on the opposite bank was our destination.

 

[drron]

At the Kyoto end of the lake the environment is much more urban.

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There are still the occasional rice paddies.The white spot in the centre of this pic is a rice harvester.They really are small.

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We arrived in Kyoto a little after this and connected to a local train back to Katata.
There we picked up a rental car for my first adventure of driving in Japan.We used Toyota Rental Car and they were good.Not much English at this branch but saved when a young Japanese fellow who had lived in Brisbane returned his rental car.Got a Hybrid Camry.

 

[drron]

We then drove to the Marriott Lake Biwa across the lake from Katata.But there is a narrow point with a toll bridge-150 Yen.Free parking at the hotel.I have done a review which is here-
Marriott Lake Biwa,Japan

We were upgraded to a top floor private onsen room.We really enjoyed it and are likely to return as it is fairly cheap and they do treat plats well.It is only 20 minutes from Kyoto to Katata by local train and Marriott have a shuttle to the train station.A lovely area.here are the views from our room.

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There was evidence of Typhoon Jebi's influence.

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There were several black kites that would glide past our window.

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[drron]

There was photo shoot taking place at the beach.Doubt it was true wedding photos as he didn't look quite the part.

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There were always fishermen out on the lake.

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It was just as well they did the photo shoot that day as this was the view the next morning and stayed like that for the next 48 hours.

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Now there were 2 things we wanted to do.The first was to visit the Biwa Valley Resort which as the name implies was at the top of a mountain and reached by cable car.We thought the views were unlikely to be spectacular.
The other was Hikone Castle but the rain was very heavy at times and it is a walk around the ruins but with a restored castle.That was obviously off the table too.Something about this holiday.

Lake Biwa is an "ancient" lake.It covers 674 sq.km.
It supplies water to Kyoto and Osaka.
Many endemic species including a Lake Biwa salmon.But commercial fishing is for a small fish the ayu.
It also is home to the Lake Biwa pearly mussel which supported the Biwa fresh water pearl industry.However pollution brought a stop to this industry around 1980.Some pearl farmers moved to just south of Tokyo and are now called Kasumi pearls.Many technicians however were employed by the Chinese.As soon as they learnt the techniques though the Japanese were sent packing.many pearls sold as Biwa or Kasumi pearls are actually lower quality Chinese pearls.
An interesting fact.Culturing of pearls was not discovered by the Japanese.It was actually developed by an Englishman.William Saville-Kent.

The stakes that you see in several of the photos are old fish traps.Quite a few still in use today.

 

[drron]

So we set off on a drive on the Biwa valley side of the lake. We found this place.

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Mrsdrron stayed on the low level whilst I went up the hill to explore.

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[drron]

It was worthwhile doing the short climb.

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Not sure why the trees were taped.

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[drron]

I now headed to a little street adjoining the shrine.

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[love_the_life]

Lake Biwa is mentioned in The Tales of Genji. Did you see any references to this while you were there?