Kanazawa trip, Episode 3: Secret Temples and Tea Houses

We arrived at the entrance of the famous secret temple during the early afternoon hours. Our tour was booked (as required) for 13:30. Kanazawa, laying in between the surrounding mountains and the central sea, lived up to its reputation: tons of rain and coldness. My sneakers were already soaking wet. While Y. had been weighting between her options between wearing shoes and boots for our trip, I made the amateurish mistake of choosing a pair of old sports shoes. I had taken them for a walk in Tokyo and they seemed comfortable enough. But what worked out well for a Tokyo breeze, was not up for the challenge in Kanazawa’s weather. As we were entering the temple, I realized that my feet were very wet. Seeing the person walking in front of me, leaving a water footmarks in the wooden floor, I understood that many people in there were “in my shoes”.

Myoryuji Temple, also known as Ninjadera, was founded in 1643. The entrance reminded me of what you would see upon entering some older mosques. We took our shoes off and put them on the shelves (located in both sides of the main building) and continued towards our left, where we were greeted by a women who collected the entrance fees (1 000 yen, for adults). Everyone walked in very silently, like you would expect to do in a sacred place. The guides and workers inside the temple looked a little too stern, not having the pleasurable welcoming gestures that characterize Japanese people. Maybe they were eager to reflect the historical military significance of the place, in addition to demanting full attention of the visitors: the building was about 400 years old, we had to watch our step in there. Y. told me that they had had the same strictness in their tone, when she called to make a reservation for us.

They asked about my Japanese language comprehension level and provided an English folder that contained the same details that the guide would go through. Additionally, they asked me to read a special set of rules in English, assuring that I wouldn’t wonder off or use my phone during the tour. We had to leave our backpacks in a special room, because the temple was narrow (for reasons that I will explain below) and a backpack could make us too clumsy. We sat down on the floor, next to gas heaters and waited for our names to be called.

Now, let’s talk a bit more about the history and structure of the temple. It had served both as a temple and as a sort of military spy post for the Maeda clan. At that time, the central government had allowed only two-storeys tops structures to being built. The purpose was to keep people under control, particularly in case of combat (yup, governments have a tendency towards being paranoic).

The Maeda clan found a way around these regulations by making the Ninjadera appear as double floored from the outside, while the structure inside was in fact divided in four floors, hosting 23 rooms, 29 staircases and a lookout tower. It was equipped with many deceiving secret rooms and passages that served for easy hidding, used mostly by spies, whose job it was to make sure to inform the Maeda clan leaders on what was happening. Secret rooms, moving walls, stairways that disappeared into darkness, a 25-meters-deep well with a secret passage (located around the 20m depth level), supposably leading all the way to the main Kanazawa castle! It was like a boy’s dream (and maybe girl’s too, I’m just basing in my boyhood games with my friends): exactly what we imagine when we play ninja.

At one of the secret sliding doors, the guide honored me with the best viewing point (as a respect to the only foreigner to group) and explained the mechanism that would hide you instantly from the view of an outside chaser.

The temple provided a window into a different time in the history of Japan: a time full of mercenaries and potential threats, so I definitely recommend it to anyone who visits Kanazawa. It is probably my number one recommendation to the average tourist.

After we were done with the temple, me and Y. slid down the road towards Nishi-Chaya district, hosting many characteristic tea houses, as well as the Seijiro Shimada museum build on the former site of the tea house “Kichibero”. It is said that the author Shimada used to spend time. The first-floor showcased items with biographical information on Shimada himself, while the second floor recreated the atmosphere of the time he lived. I have to say that the floor in the second storey had a good heating system and me and Y. sat down there for a while, enjoying the warmth./*54745756836*/