Kanazawa itinerary
Kenrokuen Garden
Kenrokuen Garden is one of Japan's three most beautiful landscaped gardens,. It's more than 300 years old and it was built during the Edo period. The pine trees are the best-known trees in the garden. The umbrella-shaped thing that you see is called yukizuri, which is designed to protect the branches from heavy snow.
I visited Kenrokuen Garden at night (admission in the garden is free at night, I'm not sure why!) and in the day as well.
Tip: Kenrokuen Garden is best admired in good weather. Unfortunately, I arrived a few days late, and most of the leaves were already bare because of the wind and rain.
I visited Kenrokuen Garden at night (admission in the garden is free at night, I'm not sure why!) and in the day as well.
Tip: Kenrokuen Garden is best admired in good weather. Unfortunately, I arrived a few days late, and most of the leaves were already bare because of the wind and rain.
Omicho Market
Omicho Market is within walking distance from Kenrokuen Garden and I headed over to Omicho Market for lunch. Kanazawa is near the coastal region and its waters are very clean and good (there's a certain sweetness to the water) and seafood is fresh. Needless to say, I ate a lot of seafood there. I ordered a bowl of Hokirikusama Don and it was delicious. It was my most expensive meal (1,500 yen) thus far, but worth every single bite.
Tip: Go there before 12pm to avoid the crowds. When in doubt, look at the queue and use that as an indicator of how popular/good the food is.
Nagamachi District
Kanazawa is famous for being a samurai town. Walking around Nagamachi District was my favourite place in Kanazawa. My guesthouse was near the canal and you see a lot of quaint cafes along the canal and walking around it is a breeze.
Kenroku-en garden was a bit disappointing because of the rain. But Nomurai Samurai house made up for it because it was so beautiful. The little garden is beautiful. Used to be a samurai's house. Nina-san shared that the Maeda family is the biggest family/clan in Japan, followed by the Nomuras, I think.
Tip: There are some nice quaint cafes along the canal and walking around there is a breeze.
Kenroku-en garden was a bit disappointing because of the rain. But Nomurai Samurai house made up for it because it was so beautiful. The little garden is beautiful. Used to be a samurai's house. Nina-san shared that the Maeda family is the biggest family/clan in Japan, followed by the Nomuras, I think.
Tip: There are some nice quaint cafes along the canal and walking around there is a breeze.
Higashi Chaya District
Higashi Chaya District was quiet touristy and expensive. Had tea and sweets and it cost me ¥700, and I got half the price at the Nomurai Samurai House. Such a rip off! But walking around the streets make you feel like you're walking back in time. Here, you can see why Kanazawa is nicknamed "Little Kyoto".
Fun fact: Some shops hang dried sweet corn at their doorway as a lucky charm. I've also observed that Japanese people are.. superstitious? There's a good luck charm for a lot of things - e.g. in Takayama there's this rabbit lucky charm, Ubodo. Kanazawa has this egg doll like mascot.
Ninjadera Temple / Myouryuji Temple
Ninjadera temple is actually a nickname and it's real name is Myouryuji Temple, which was built by the Maeda lords during the Edo period. It's a very interesting and architecturally complex building full of deceptive traps, hence it's nickname, Ninja temple.
The Tokugawa shogunate prohibited buildings of more than two stories, and what's interesting is that from the outside, one would think that the temple is two storeys, but in actual fact a four-story building with seven layer internal structure.
There were lots of interesting rooms such as double doors, wooden planks designed as a pitfall - similar to the offertory box; killing two birds with one stone ha! Costs ¥1,000 with a tour guide but very worth it and eye opening. The tour is conducted in Japanese only. Nonetheless, I visited it and was given a tour book in English and I managed to follow through the sequence of the tour.
The Tokugawa shogunate prohibited buildings of more than two stories, and what's interesting is that from the outside, one would think that the temple is two storeys, but in actual fact a four-story building with seven layer internal structure.
There were lots of interesting rooms such as double doors, wooden planks designed as a pitfall - similar to the offertory box; killing two birds with one stone ha! Costs ¥1,000 with a tour guide but very worth it and eye opening. The tour is conducted in Japanese only. Nonetheless, I visited it and was given a tour book in English and I managed to follow through the sequence of the tour.
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