Toyama is a city on the North coast of Honshu, Japan that few from my home town seem to have visited. It has a population of about 450,000 which means it is around 225,000 times larger than Rosewood. Lady C-S and I decided to spend two days here on our way to share time in Kanazawa with our son and his partner Jemima. It has been a pleasant surprise indeed and today was one of those travel days that I love.

The morning was spent in a search for good coffee, however most shops, including cafes, don’t open here until 10 or later. Putting our caffeine addiction to the side for a time, we decided to view a collection on display at Toyama’s glass museum. The museum is currently hosting an exhibition of pieces by the French glazier Emile Galle who was quite prolific over three decades from the 1880s until his premature death from leukaemia in the early 20th century. It was a particularly uplifting display.

Galle won a number of major awards at the two World Expositions hosted by Paris, and became highly sought after as an artist. The Suntory company of Japan now has an extensive collection of his later works in particular, and their collection formed the major part of this show.  The museum building itself was a pleasure to be in on a cold winter day, Galle’s work was a bonus . Then on our way out of the museum we noticed an orchestra of women, all with traditional Japanese instruments, warming up for a free concert in the concert hall on the ground floor. We stayed of course.

I know very little about traditional Japanese music – Miss Moneypenny, Rosewood State School’s music teacher, perhaps thought we as a student cohort were not quite ready for this particular musical genre. I certainly wasn’t quite ready for this orchestra’s performance today. They started with’ Jingle Bells’ followed immediately by ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’. I left before they had finished their third item, ‘Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer’.  Can’t win them all Farquhar.

Perhaps as a reward for our earlier caffeine discipline, or perhaps for not chuckling too loudly during the opening numbers of the Toyama ladies’ concert, we headed to an excellent nearby coffee shop for a series of midday coffee shots.  The owner was great to speak with about all things Toyama. As is the way when m’lady and I travel, I suspect that, if our days in Toyama were extended, the barista would have become our private Toyama tour guide.

The evening meal was at a tonkatsu restaurant – an excellent finish to a brief visit to this small Japanese city at the foot of the Japanese alpine region. Tomorrow it is a fast train to Kanazawa to investigate the possibility of leading Rosewood Senior Rugby League Club teams to rural Japan for their end of season break-up tours. I know the Rosewood Roosters are ready for Kanazawa, I’m not certain that Kanazawa is ready for them….

Yours in Japan

Farley