It’s time for another jaunt around the prefecture’s second city, Takaoka, home to one of the country’s big three daibutsu (大仏, “giant Buddha”) and a respectable amount of tangible history. Founded just over 400 years ago as a hub for metal-working, Kanaya-machi (金屋町) is today a quaint collection of traditional-style machiya (町家) row houses, smashed against each other on a narrow cobblestone street. Good for a brief stroll any time of the year, Kanaya-machi also celebrates its founding with the annual Goin-sai on June 19th & 20th—a festival I’m going to give you a brief peek at right now.
First, though, you’ve got to get to Takaoka. Train! If you’re hungry as you’re passing through the station, you can eat an effigy of once-powerful lord Maeda Toshinaga, now called by the diminutive “Toshinaga-kun” and made into the town mascot. My, how the mighty have fallen… and been made into tourist-commercial cartoon characters. Anyway, you can eat him, in “Toshinaga-yaki” form, which is essentially just taiyaki (those fish-shaped, sweet-filling bready things) shaped like the chibi mascot. Prices range from ￥130 to ￥200, depending on what flavor of innards you prefer—options include custard and several types of anko bean paste. Take a left as you exit the ticket gates.
Let’s check out that daibutsu, since we’re here and it’s on the way. Unceremoniously located at the corner of two narrow roads east of the ruins of Takaoka Castle, the Takaoka Daibutsu has a tendency to sneak up on you—bam, it’s there. Undoubtedly the least impressive on the big three (Nara and Kamakura host the others), Takaoka’s also has the shortest history, both in terms of original founding (1745 versus 752 or 609) and current construction (1933 versus 1600s or 1252). The precincts of the host shrine are tiny, but at least it’s free and you’re welcome to wander around underneath the statue.
A district in downtown Takaoka, northwest of the station, Kanaya-machi is the historic home to the metal-casting industry that the region is still rather famous for (and dominant in). Read this for a good overview of the district and its illustrious history. The Takaoka Casting Museum (高岡市鋳物資料館) is certainly worth a look in if you’re interesting in the traditional ways, though perhaps the interactive free area in front is enough to sate most visitors.
As it’s festival time, you’ve got to have an opening ceremony, so that’s held at Arisoshō Hachiman-gu (有礒正八幡宮), a pleasant shrine a bit to the northwest of the main drag. Around 6pm on the first day of the festival, they hold a small ceremony to bless the participants (and so on), before they carry the mikoshi (神輿, portable shrine/float) through the snaking streets.
Though this festival has a long history, it doesn’t appear to be all that well known and feels extremely small-town, homey-community style. To whit, there was a taiko performance put on by largely disinterested local kids in festival garb, much to the enjoyment of the crowd, which consisted entirely of relatives.
Another example of quaint localness was the hōnō odori (奉納踊り, dedication dance) that marked the official start of the festival’s nighttime activities. Put on by two gender-segregated sets of kids, girls with scarves and boys with bamboo poles, the dance was indeed a bit mesmerizing, with the experience only occasionally marred by overzealous parents and their picture/video-taking antics.
And that’s where we’re going to leave it for today, though the festival was just beginning—be sure to make your way back to the main street for more dancing and merrymaking, perhaps even with adult pole dancers!