A full day of sightseeing with visits to the Wajima Morning Market and then the Chirihama Nagisa Driveway. The driveway is a very long beach and it's called that because people drive in it which seems to be a big deal. Then lunch and back to the hotel to get ready for another city in the morning.

Tomadachi IV - the fourth tour to Japan is two weeks in length. We have three reporters covering the trip: Lani Harrington, Vincent Yim (RHS'69) and Bobby Imoto (Kalani'69).

This is a "rolling blog" so each day's events are posted as they come in. Check back often for the latest.

Monday/Tuesday, March 4/5, 2019

Events added daily through  Monday, March 11th

It is said everyone loves as mystery so here's one...

These were sent to us from a member of the tour.

Don't know who.

They appear to be figurines of some sort.

Don't know what.

Where these might have come from doesn't match up with anything this time of day on the official itinerary.

Don't know where.

There we are. Don't know anything but might know something later today. Or might not.

Washi is traditional Japanese paper. Washi comes from wa meaning "Japanese" and shi meaning "paper".

The term is used to describe paper that uses local fiber, processed by hand and made in the traditional manner.

Washi is made using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub, or the paper mulberry bush.

Washi is generally tougher than ordinary paper made from wood pulp, and is used in many traditional arts. Washi was also used to make various everyday goods like clothes, household goods, and toys as well as vestments and ritual objects for Shinto priests and statues of Buddha.

How to make washi paper would take more room than we have here. It's an art and that's why there are classes in how to do it.

The process can be slow and a skilled washi maker might produce 300 sheets a day.

The tour members had an opportunity to make washi from scratch, removing and soaking the bark, straining it and pressing the result to produce "sort of" washi paper. We say "sort of" because the mixture needs to sit overnight, which they were not able to do.

A visit to the Bamboo Village.

Called "takeningyo" in Japanese, the bamboo dolls made in the Echizen Bamboo Doll Village are each a work of art unto themselves.

One hallmark of the Echizen bamboo doll is its hair. Made of extremely thin wood shaved to less than 0.2 mm thick, it's very delicate and time-consuming to make.

What's with the ropes?

They're called yukitsuri, and they protect tree branches from snapping under the weight of heavy snowfall.

Yukitsuri means "snow suspenders" in Japanese. The most commonly seen yukitsuris are made with ropes suspended from long bamboo poles.

Starting in early November, teams of gardeners work together to construct the tree-saving structures, which can be comprised of as many as 800 ropes for one tree. One gardener climbs the pole and throws the ropes down to several other workers who climb ladders to tie the ropes to the tree's branches.

While these ropes support the branches all winter, they also get dressed up. Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, decorates the protective yukitsuri with rope lights and golden ornaments similar to a Christmas tree. The structures remain until early March as spring approaches.

Bobby Imoto woke up very early this morning so he went for a walk. He says everything was very empty and cold. He wandered into a couple of convenience stores (7-Eleven and Family Mart) and a 24-hr restaurant. Hardly anyone inside at this time of day.

At the train station he found it empty at 0530 but by 0545, it was bustling. Must have gone in just before the rush hour.

Here's the Kanazaw station hand stamp he found. His guess is it's for visitors wanting to document their travels.

They have them at all he rest stops along the highways and at other visitor

attractions.

He then wandered

back to the hotel.

Time for breakfast.

Waiting in the lobby for everyone so they can head off to the Wajima Morning Market.

Founded more then 1000 years ago, the Wajima Morning Market is 200 booths selling food, vegatables and local handcrafts.

Many products don't have a price tag so that means you better bring your haggling skills.