Kitagawa town and Kochi, July 5 – 6, 2025
Monet’s Lily pond at Kitagawa town, Kochi Castle and Hachikin burger
On September 7th last year, I was watching TV Tokyo’s Saturday night program “Hebel haus museum” on Water Lilies of Manet. In the episode, it introduced Marmottan au Village de Kitagawa, a garden of some 30,000 square meters with lily pond which reproduced Monet’ garden in Giverny, France. Kitagawa town is located east side of Kochi prefecture. The town send their gardeners frequently to Giverny to seek their guidance to keep the garden what Monet would like. I heard staff had visited the garden all the way from Giverny. The exchange between them is continuing. Though there is railway to the town, I chosen to go by car from the Kochi airport to make the most of my stay. I am returning to Haneda by the following day’s flight.
The flight started to descend slowly around when it reached Shikoku island. Blue beautiful ocean appeared below the aircraft just after it came out of the clouds. When was the last time I saw such a beautiful ocean?
I put the address into the GPS and checked out at Toyota before 09:30 and headed toward Kitagawa town, which is a drive of about one and half hours watching the pacific ocean. Destination was Marmottan au Village de Kitagawa. I could go by train and bus. But I did not want to waste my time. I know the best time to watch water lilies is morning. Sooner the better. I wanted to reach the place as soon as I could. It is some 50 kilometers from the airport. I drove most of the route by express way. I got the garden by 10:20. There is a Monet’s lilies pond about five minute walk from the entrance into the garden. It was small than I had imagined. However, it is very beautiful place. There were a lot of dragonflies flying. I found some flowers were open under the morning sunshine. This sector was built under strict supervision by Foundation Claude Monet which owns gardens in Giverny. Marmottan au Village de Kitagawa sends their gardeners to Giverny regularly. So I think what I am watching is almost same as what Monet would have watched. The garden was tiny. It is located in quite place between mountains. Air is clear. There is nothing to destruct. I stayed the garden longer than I planned originally. I also took a walk to the top of the hill.
It was around twelve o’clock. Time to grab something. I did not feel hungry much. But I wanted to have something. I found a bakery shop near the souvenir shop in the garden. I found a Hachi-kin Burger on their menu board. I asked the staff what the Hachi-Kin burger is. She told me ” It is a chicken burger made with a local bred chicken called “Hachikin” . I asked her. Is Hachikin a local word for an cheerful and competitive woman in Tosa dialect. She smiled and said so. I understand it is a wordplay with the local bred Chicken and the local word. I instantly decided to order it with a cup of coffee. She suggested I can eat at the second floor of next restaurant. I climbed upstairs of the restaurant and sit on the table on the second floor. It is fully airconditioned. The burger has a slice of tomato, a leaf of lettuce and a slice of cheese. The meat is moist, chewy and tasty. There was no side dish like French fries. I was enough for me. Beside, it was good relief that I could spend time in an airconditioned room.
I droved to Kochi city through the road I had come. As I came to Kochi just to visit Marmottan au Village de Kitagawa, I had no other plan to do afterwards. Maybe I should visit Hirome market, where a bunch of small restaurants and shops gather and offer drinks and food. After check in at the hotel and took shower, I decided to walk towards Kochi castle. I found Hirome market on the way. It was near 5 o’clock. The fully air-conditioned building with tiny restaurants, ezakaya was full of people who were enjoying drinks and food. I decided to go. After the covid 19 pandemic, I have become uncomfortable being in a crowded place. Maybe I could return at someday. I bought a pack of Tosayaki dumplings and gyoza dumplings to eat at the hotel room tonight.
The next morning, I woke up with the noise from the street in front of the hotel. I opened the window and looked down the street. I found there were people who were setting up tents on the road. It was a Sunday morning markets. I changed my cloth and went out to stroll the streets. First I walked toward the tram street. Cause I wanted to see Harimaya bridge, one of the three disappointing landmarks in Japan: Oranda slope, Nagasaki; Clock tower, Sapporo; and this Harimaya bridge, Kochi. Those landmarks are famous but many of those who come to see feel disappointed as they were not what people had imagined in size. Yeah…it is small! But I like it. The canal which existed here was large and wide bridge before it was re-claimed. So the bridge here now is just a reproduce to remind there had been a canal and its bridge once.
After visiting the bridge, I walked towards Kochi Castle through the Sunday Morning Market. The main street was blocked for vehicles during the market. There were many shops on the street.