6/30 - Gold Leaf Museum, Tea house district & Recycling center

This was our last day in Kanazawa. We started the day by checking out of the hotel.We took a group picture on the hotel stairs.

We then jumped the bus for the Tomuro recycling center in Kanazawa city.
This is both a recycling center and an education center for fourth graders to learn about the importance of recycling. The entry hall had a variety of art made out of recycled materials.

We met the director of the center who apologized for the fact that the center was not in operation that day due to scheduled maintenance.He took us upstairs to a meeting room where he showed us a video which is used with fourth graders and describes how recycling is done in Kanazawa and why recycling is important.

We then went downstairs to a large exhibit hall which explained how recycling is done with different materials. He also showed us how Kanazawa recycles large objects like furniture and refrigerators and other appliances. Within the recycling center is a workshop where these items are repaired and then can be auctioned back to the people of Kanazawa. What a terrific idea.

 Then off to the Yasue Gold leaf Museum. This is located in a tea-house district of Kanazawa. In the museum the process of preparing gold leaf was explained. Gold was first discovered near Kanazawa before it was called Kanazawa. Kanazawa means golden stream. In addition to the discovery of gold a plant whose stems and leaves are required for the making of the paper which separates gold leaf also grows here. Thus the basic ingredients were available locally and the industry took off. Now the gold is bought on the commodities market in London. Most of it is from South Africa. Kanazawa provides 99% of the goldleaf used in Japan. It is found on the Golden Temple, photos of which you will see in a later blog.

Gold leaf shrine and screens

After the museum we walked around the tea district. Then back on the buses for lunch at a hotel in the station.

At the lunch we were able to make presentations to our amazing guides for the Kanazawa stay.

Then back on the train and on to Kobe, and our Okura hotel. I was surprised at our return because my new room was a huge corner room with great views and room for a pony! It was dinner on our own at night so few of us went to Chinatown.