The One We Didn't Bomb

October 23, 2025

“What do Japanese artisans, engineers, Zen philosophy, and cuisine have in common? Simplicity and attention to detail.”

— Hector Garcia

“Next time is next time.  Now is now”

- Kōji Yakusho. (From Perfect Days film)

Curtis Lemay, the father of the modern U.S. Air Force in 1945 was the newly assigned general to head the American air campaign against Japan. Germany was defeated and the U.S. was moving its enormous bombing assets to the Pacific Theatre to “Finish the job.”  Tiny Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands had been taken by the marines and that, in addition to the arrival of the new long range B-29 bombers, allowed at last for the Japan mainland to be bombed. 

And LeMay intended to do just that.  “I will burn it all down”, he wrote.  There was a large map of Japan spread out in his quonset hut showing every known city in the country.  Whether or not there was a military target there, Lemay intended to bomb them all.  With almost no opposition from the Japanese by that time of the war, he very nearly succeeded.  Very few cities missed the onslaught.

Kanazawa, on the West coast of the country was one of them that escaped the fire.   That is where we are now.  This city is very old and in the 16th century it was the principle fiefdom of Maeda Toshiie  who was second only to Tokugawa, the great Shogun, in power and played a principle role in establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate.  This relationship led to the beginning of the Edo period.

Lord Toshiie

Since LeMay spared Kanazawa, much of the city’s old neighborhoods. remain intact and are worth a visit.

Before we arrived at Kanazawa, our bus stopped at another cultural village called Shirakawa.   The pictures I have shown so far are from that community  The difference in this village was people actually still live there.  It was hard to imagine trying to live your daily lives with streets outside your homes choked with tours and school children outings snapping pictures.

Kanazawa is a large city of around 400,000 people.  The historic area is centered in and around Kanazawa Castle, Toshiie’s old palace.

Our hotel was next to the Omicho Fish Market.  Kanazawa’s proximity to the Sea of Japan makes it a hub for seafood.  Walking through the market is like strolling through a marine aquarium except the fish are mostly dead.  Still the exotic varieties were great curiosities.  The locals know this about tourists.  Everyone wants to take pictures of the wriggling crabs and eels.  So many stalls vigorously posted signs saying “NO PHOTOS!”.

In amongst the stalls were great restaurants with wonderful fresh seafood.  It was people watching at its finest.

Below was the entertainment or Geisha district.  During the Edo period these old buildings were pleasure houses, theaters, and Sake breweries.

Today, the old buildings are filled with elegant craft stores and restaurants.  It was here I tried soft serve ice cream wrapped in gold leaf.  I am not sure why this is done other than its pretty.  The gold was tasteless and dissolved easily.

Tori Gate at Bus Terminal

This lady needs an intervention

After the Geisha District we went to the Samurai neighborhood.  Here were high walls surrounding individual homes.  It was less elegant than the Geisha area, mostly had stores that sold swords, and had a museum that appeared to be a medieval adult book store.  Boys will be boys.

There is a large landscape Garden that is next to the castle here.  The sun had at last come out and it was a perfect Fall day.  As you can imagine, the grounds were beautiful with the many Japanese maple trees just starting to change color.  Another two weeks from now this place will be glorious.

These 6th graders were stopping people to practice their English. Lots of fun talking with them

There were a number of gardeners working.  They were trimming trees and even on there hands and knees with small shears trimming the moss  at the edge of tree trunks.  The attention to detail and pride in workmanship was inspiring.  Everything was perfect.  No litter, no debris, no stray leaves.

A few years ago Colleen and I saw a movie that really captured this spirit.   It was called “Perfect Days” and featured a beautiful performance by Kōji Yakusho.  It was a simple profound story of the simple beauty of life.  I strongly encourage anyone to see it.  It is streaming now on Hulu.

We finished the day walking around the castle grounds of the former Toshiie dynasty.  The main palace burned down in a fire in the 19th century.  The large scaffolding  you see is the ongoing effort to rebuild the building to its former glory.

Tomorrow, we leave Japan for several days for a trip to Seoul,  South Korea.  Afterwards, we will return for the final leg of this episode of the Road to Bali.