Kanazawa

Of Interest: seafood market, Castle grounds, performing arts center, international center
Tourist Office: yes, inside the station
Lodging: multiple
Internet Access: in the basement of the performing arts center to the right of the station (free from 30 minutes)

Int'l ATM: in the post office in the station building

The tourists office is excellent and has lots of materials in English, including a seasonal tourist magazine. Get a map it is easy to get lost in some of the the small streets in the historic district.

Leaving the station area is easy, just walk straight from the station along the four lane boulevard. There is an international center five minutes walk from the station on the right hand side. It is open regular business hours from Monday to Friday. Another ten minutes walk will get you to a covered market that specializes in fish. This is the point that the small roads appear. You may have look at a map to find the entrance. The market is a good place to have lunch. It is very touristy so it is not cheap.

A five minutes walk through the market will take you to a side entrance of Castle Park. Kanzawa used to be basically an independent country and this was the capital. The park is the largest of its type that I have seen in Japan with remains of lots of buildings as well as lots of areas that have returned to nature. There was a rehearsal for some kind of musical while I was there which was pretty interesting. The area is very hilly; if you stand on top of one of the hills you can see almost everything. (This is another place where I would not bring any luggage.)

There is an arts and craft street across the road from the main entrance (or one of the main entrances). Right now the city is organizing a crafts festival, so this area should be pretty lively. The entrance to Kenrokuen Garden is close by also. This is one the "three most beautiful gardens" in Japan.

At this point, you are pretty far from the station. It is best to take one of the loop buses if you are going back. I think that there are four loop buses in Kanazwa. I think that there are three for locals that cost 100 yen, and one for tourists that is more expensive. Each bus is identified by a color.

Kanazawa was never fire bombed during WWII, so there are historic houses in various places in the city.

The city of Kanzawa has translated their website into English, including the information on transportation. The train section includes information on shinkansen and express trains from Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Note that from Tokyo, you can take the Tokaido Shinkansen west to Maibara or the Joetsu Shinkansen over the mountains to Echigo-yuzawa. Kanzawa is two hours from Maibara and two and a half hours from Echigo-yuzawa by express train. Other destinations reachable by regular express trains are Kyoto (two hours), Osaka (two and a half hours), and Nagoya (two and a half hours).

Local JR West trains go to Fukui (hour and a half), Toyama (forty-five minutes), and Nanao (ninety minutes). There is also a short line run by the Hokuriku Railroad that has multiple stops within the city of Kanazawa and a terminus in the city of Uchinada. The whole trip only takes seventeen minutes.

Daejeon

Of interest: old downtown, traditional food and clothing market, art cinema, city tour

Lodging: Motel

Tourist office: Yes, a good one. There is also an international center across the street.

In Station Computers: Yes

Nearest Int'l ATM: In the underground subway station

Daejeon Station is the main train station for Daejeon. It also has the main tourist information office for Daejeon. This is unusual because few train stations have tourist info offices anymore. The people working here are a good source of information about Daejeon AND Seoul. Note that while the maps and pamphlets on local attractions are in multiple languages, those for Seoul are only in Korean. However, it may be worth stopping here before starting a trip to Seoul because there is NO tourist office at Seoul Station. They are inside. If you leave with the crowds when you arrive in Daejeon, you have to walk back into the train station. The tourist office is on the second floor, the same floor as ticket purchases.

Trains from Daejeon Station run southeast to Daegu and Busan, north to Seoul Station, and into Chungcheongbuk-do. KTX trains run along the Seoul-Busan route. Seoul is about an hour away to the north. To the south Daegu is also about an hour away, while Busan is two hours, all by KTX. Saemaeul and Mugungwha trains take about twice that long, but they are also half as much. There are also five Mugungwha trains a day that run to the mountains. (Trains running southwest leave from Seodaejeon Station.) Cheongju Station, near the capital of Chungcheongbuk-do, is 37 minutes away to the northwest. The line ends at Jecheon, two and a half hours away. At that point travelers can transfer to two other mountain lines.

Daejeon Station is also the name for a subway station which runs underneath the train station.

Daejeon Station is in old downtown. The station plaza is sometimes the location for citizen sponsored events. For the downtown food market, turn to your left when you leave the train station. It starts at the edge of the parking lot.

To get to the international center or the art cinema, go into the subway station to cross the street. There is an underground shopping center. Walk into this. The first set of stairs to your left will take you up to the international center. Keep walking straight away from the train station and shortly you will see some movie posters and flyers. The art cinema is on the third floor. Their website is http://cafe.naver.com/artcinema (Korean). There is also a more conventional multiplex near the station.

There are some good traditional Korean restaurants a five to ten minute walk from the train station. Again, cross under the street through the subway station and exit on the first set of stairs to the left. Keep walking straight, parallel to the train station, until you come to the first street on your right. Walk down this street. On it you will find used clothing stores, a couple of Buddhist stores, and various other small shops. The small streets to your left will take you to a market for luggage, hats, and clothing. Near the end of this small street there are several restaurants.

On the weekends, a city tour leaves from in front of the station.