I have been living in Japan for almost three years, but there are still many places left for me to discover in this beautiful country. I mentioned before that I wish to visit as many prefectures as possible or maybe even all 47! All prefectures have something special, be it a picturesque landscape, a must-try unique dish, a famous castle or temple and so on. And what I admire about Japan is that it knows how to promote itself, only if you go to that prefecture, can you try that delicious udon or those super sweet strawberries, plus the advertisements with beautiful photos of landscapes across the country that can be found in train stations give you wanderlust. Even though some places were not on my initial bucket list, I gradually discover new places to visit in Japan through blogs, Instagram, books, friends and so on. This way, I might never get bored here haha.

We were thinking to visit Kanazawa when we visited Shirakawago as it was not far from there, however, the time was not enough at the time so I left it for another occasion. Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island, on the Sea of Japan coast. It is a popular tourist destination for Japanese people and foreigners alike. Kanazawa is an old city that flourished in the 16th century under the leadership of the Maeda family. The rich cultural heritage that can be found in Kanazawa nowadays is all thanks to this family.

There are many places around Japan known as “little Kyoto” (one of them is Takayama), but Kanazawa probably deserves best this nickname because the former geisha districts here are very similar to the ones in Kyoto. You know how much I love Kyoto, so Kanazawa did not disappoint me and it moved to the position of my third favorite city in Japan, after Kyoto and Tokyo.

Kanazawa offers a great variety of places to see, foods to try and experiences to have. I think that the ideal time to spend there is around three or four days to explore thoroughly. We only had two days and honestly, it was not enough… Not far from the city, there is also a small onsen town, Yuwaku Onsen, where you can relax after a busy day of sightseeing.

How to get there?

The fastest, most comfortable (but not the cheapest) way to go from Tokyo to Kanazawa is by Shinkansen. The fastest Shinkansen for this route, “Kagayaki”, started running in March 2015, and it takes only 2.5 hours to get to Kanazawa from Tokyo. Since all the seats are reserved for this train, it might be a good idea to buy the tickets at least one day in advance, depending on the season (during peak seasons such as New Year’s Holiday, Golden Week, Silver Week and so on, reserving them one month in advance is recommended).

Roundtrip is somewhere around 28,000 yen.

A cheaper option would be to go by night bus.

For getting around the city or to the neighboring onsen town, Kanazawa has a very good bus system and buying a one day pass is a good deal. For only 500 yen you can go on and off the bus as much as you want. Weather permits, the city is pretty walkable as well.

Accommodation

There is the option of staying at a normal hotel in the city (and there are plenty) or going a bit further to Yuwaku onsen where there are a few nice ryokans (traditional Japanese inns) with onsen. Kanazawa is not particularly famous for onsens (hot springs), but they can be found almost everywhere in Japan after all, as the Japanese are big lovers of hot springs.

We stayed at a ryokan called Yamane where we had dinner and breakfast included. Our experience there was very good, so I highly recommend it! Although the exterior is a bit misleading and the ryokan looks very European, the rooms are 100% Japanese style. There are two restaurants, one for dinner and one for breakfast and their design was a beautiful mix of European and traditional Japanese style that I loved.

My favorite part of this ryokan was the onsen, the water at Yuwaku onsen is called 美人の湯 bijin no yu or the beauty’s water and I felt that it made my skin super soft after. Several baths can be enjoyed, including an outdoors (rotenburo) bath, an inside bath, jacuzzi plus a small private onsen that you can reserve upon check-in.

Another plus for this ryokan was the food, for dinner, kaiseki ryori (traditional multi-course Japanese haute cuisine) that included local specialties, dishes according to the season, a lot of fish and vegetables. I loved it! I wouldn’t know how to explain everything, so I will leave the photos below to speak for themselves. The breakfast was also very special, with “Kanazawa nabe” (hotpot), grilled fish, local pickles, among others. At other inns where I stayed at, breakfast used to be very simple, but here, I was surprised by the quality and the quantity of breakfast.

Looking at the photos on the Internet, this inn looked gorgeous, but I thought maybe they were misleading. It was not the case, it was a wonderful place, super nice staff, I’d love to stay there again someday.

What to see & do?

Kanazawa Station (JR Railway)

The first thing you will see in Kanazawa after getting off the Shinkansen is the huge glass dome called the Motenashi Dome (Hospitality Dome) and the huge wooden gate called Tsuzumimon. The massive wooden gate represents the symbolic entrance to this city of culture, just like the gates at temples, it will transport you back in time. The shape of this gate, tsuzumi, evokes the drums used in Noh theater and Kaga Hosho (Kanazawa school of Noh) performances. Although it was not built long ago, the gate quickly became a symbol of Kanazawa and one of the most aesthetically-pleasing buildings in Japan.

 

Rent a kimono

We started our first day in Kanazawa with a visit to a kimono rental shop near Kanazawa station, Vasara. The location of the shop was very accessible and they had a great variety of kimonos to choose from at all prices. I chose a kimono with a spring flower pattern and with gold lines because gold is the representative color of Kanazawa. Another post with more kimono photos coming soon!

Kenrokuen Garden

Now that we have our kimonos, where to go?

Kenrokuen Garden is a must-see spot in Kanazawa as it is one of Japan’s “three most beautiful landscape gardens”. Japanese gardens are famous all over the world and I think it is worth it to go to one of the most famous ones. The name of this garden translates as “garden which combines six characteristics,” and these six aspects are coolness, the subtlety of design, scenic views, wisdom and respect, serenity, and spaciousness.

The beginning of Kenrokuen was when in 1676, Maeda Tsunanori decided to build a villa on the domain where the garden lays nowadays. That villa now became a tea house known as Shiguretei Tea House, where you can take a break from strolling around the garden and enjoy a warm cup of green tea along with Japanese sweets.

 

Kanazawa Castle

Close to Kenrokuen Garden, you can find Kanazawa Castle which was the seat of the powerful Maeda clan during the Edo Period. The castle burnt down several times and it is still being slowly reconstructed. The parts which were finalized are the two turrets and a long storehouse.

 

Higashi Chaya District

Chaya means teahouse and it is a special kind of restaurant where the guests can be entertained by traditional performances of geishas such as dances or shamisen performances. During the Edo period, Higashi Chaya was a flourishing geisha district like Gion in Kyoto. Nowadays, only two teahouses remained, others being turned into coffee shops or restaurants.

There are three chaya districts in Kanazawa, Higashi Chayagai (Eastern Chaya District), Nishi Chayagai (Western Chaya District) and Kazuemachi. Higashi Chayagai is the largest and most famous, you will always see it on postcards of Kanazawa.

 

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

After going back to the Edo period and admiring the essence of Japanese traditional culture in Kenrokuen and Higashi Chayagai, it is time to return to the 21st century with a visit to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art.

I love this peaceful coexistence of the old and the new that can be found in Japan. City of innovation, this museum was established in Kanazawa with “the mission of generating new culture and revitalizing its community”. The museum is “open to the city like a park” and its permanent exhibition can be visited free of charge.

One work that sparks interest and has gone viral on social media is The Swimming Pool by Leandro Erlich (2004). The work can be seen both from above and from below, if you wish to go below, you need to pay for a ticket, but it is pretty affordable, around 300yen.

Viewers from above will see what looks like a deep swimming pool filled with water. The water surface acts as an interface between people above and people below (inside the “pool”).

Where to eat?

One important part of traveling: eating! Sometimes I get so absorbed by sightseeing that I even forget to eat or I just have some light snacks. However, this time, Kanazawa’s food scene was not to be missed! Located close to the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa boasts delicious seafood and fish, used in sushi, kaisendons and many other dishes.

For delicious, fresh, seafood and fish, Omicho Market is the place to go. Besides the various stores selling fresh fish, vegetables, pickles and so on, there are many restaurants to try. I recommend going there earlier in the morning or up to lunchtime because as they finish their fish, these restaurants usually close so you wouldn’t want to leave without having tried their delicious sushi. I will present two restaurants I found that impressed me.

Mori Mori Sushi

Best kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi) I’ve ever had! I recommend trying the fatty maguro (tuna) as it will simply melt in your mouth. But everything there was delicious, including their omelet sushi (tamagoyaki) and okura. Local fish such as buri or nodoguro are also not to be missed!

Yamasan Sushi Honten

This restaurant is famous for its gorgeous, almost like a piece of art, kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) although you can also try sushi there. Their signature kaisendon with 18 types of fish and seafood and even a bit of gold on top is the ultimate Kanazawa extravagance. The price of 3000 yen might sound a bit pricy but it is definitely worth the amount and quality you will get for it. I’m not a big fan of uni or ikura, but in places like these, even they taste heavenly!

There are less expensive options as well such as omakase don at 1,800 yen. Lines can get pretty long and they don’t have a fixed schedule (on their site they say they start at 7 AM and until the ingredients are gone) so, better go there early. We went on a weekday around 1 PM and only had to wait around 30 minutes. They have an English menu as well, so it is quite tourist-friendly.

I found this place on Instagram, and many of the customers were saying the same thing, but the owner was so funny, he was like “I was making this kaisendon before Instagram” haha. I’m sure this place was famous before Instagram and I’m sure it appeared in many Japanese travel guides, which by the way, contain mostly food.

 

Kazu Nakashima

After lunch, it is time for dessert and tea and, there are plenty of cafes to choose from in Higashi Chayagai. Again, I found this traditional Japanese cafe on Instagram and it was so popular that we had to wait for over one hour before finally going in… and that was in rain and snow… Was it worth it? Definitely!

Daifuku is a simple Japanese confectionery made of mochi (glutinous rice cake) and with a sweet filling of anko. Ichigo or strawberry daifuku is quite popular in Japan but at Kazu Nakashima, they use all kinds of seasonal fruits such as orange, kiwi, pineapple and the quality of the fruits used is very high, that is why the price might be a bit high as well. A set of daifuku and matcha tea is 1,300 yen for strawberry and pineapple, and 1,800 to 2,000 yen for kiwi and orange.

The long lines are probably caused by the shop’s popularity on Instagram but then again, this shop is much older than Instagram and it started as a traditional Japanese sweets store 100 years ago.

So, this was my short, but exciting trip to Kanazawa! I loved everything about this city, the old streets, the beautiful landscapes, the onsen and especially the food! I recommend it if you visit Japan and have time to go a bit further away.

Happy traveling and thank you for your visit!