In August 2022 I rode out to the Noto Peninsula. It juts out from the north of Ishikawa Prefecture into the Sea of Japan. Known as a tourist destination, but somehow this was the first time I'd actually gone.
Sōji-ji Soin
The first stop after arriving in Noto was Sōji-ji Soin, the predecessor temple to Sōji-ji, the head temple of the Sōtō Zen sect. It's in Monzen-machi, Wajima City.
Standing in front of the mountain gate, I lost a bit of my words at the sheer size of it. A heavy, three-bay wooden gate against a blue sky. Almost no other visitors. In the silence I stood there longer than I'd planned.
Sashimi with gold leaf on top
On the way back from Noto, I had dinner at an izakaya in Kanazawa called Wadai. Among all the seafood, the sashimi came out with gold leaf on top of it. First time seeing sashimi served with gold leaf.
It doesn't really change the taste. But the impulse to put it on the dish at all is very Kanazawa — there's a kind of "this isn't every day" quality to it. I thought about how Kanazawa's gold-leaf culture has worked its way down even into izakaya plates.
Across the meal, the food in Noto was good. Stating the obvious — the sea is right there — but everything I tried was a hit.
Noto carried a "far away" feeling for me, and I'd been putting it off. Once you actually go, it's not that far. Make it to the tip of the peninsula and you have sea, you have mountains, and the food is good. Should have come sooner.