Kanazawa 4-Day Trip

Kanazawa Station with the Tsuzumi Gate

Day 1

We arrived to Kanazawa Station by train and exited through the east side. On that side you can see the Tsuzumi (drum) Gate. From the station we walked to Omicho Market, one of Kanazawa's largest food markets and it has been there since the the Edo Period (1603-1868)! Even today it is a popular spot to buy fresh seafood and local produce for both tourists and local Japanese. We stopped at a restaurant in Omicho Market to eat some delicious salmon sashimi rice bowls. We got to take advantage of the fresh seafood in Japan!

After lunch we visited Kenrokuen Garden. The were using a traditional Japanese gardening technique on the trees called yukitsuri. Yukitsuri is a technique using straw ropes, wood and bamboo to protect the trees from snow. You can see some of the trees in the picture below utilizing yukitsuri. It is not only a functional technique; it also provides some added Japanese beauty in the fall and wintertime to gardens.

Day 2

Kanazawa Castle is partially restored, and has been affected by fires multiple times throughout its history. A fun fact is that the castle's white tiles are made of lead and are fireproof. But it is also though that in a battle they could use the tiles to turn into bullets, if needed.

Higashi Chaya District is a historical area with traditionally wooden houses and teahouses with geisha performances. Gold leaf products are also popular in Kanazawa and you can even try it in gold leaf ice cream. I opted for bath salts with gold although we did stop by a cute restaurant to get desserts, and Blake's came with a bit of gold leaf pieces on top. It was a rainy day, so we just walked around when the weather wasn't too bad.

          

 

Public artwork

                       

Day 3

 

 

This day was supposed to be the rainiest so we opted for an indoor activity and visited the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Modern Art. We're lucky we did that because during our time inside it started to hail! There were glass walls in part of the museum where we could see the tiny hailstones hitting the ground. Once it was safe to go back outside we went to Oyama Shrine.

Oyama Shrine

We found out that there was a free night at Kenrokuen Garden and visited it a second time since it was close to where we were lodging. 

Day 4

Our last morning in Kanazawa we spent it briefly visiting two historical districts: Nishi Chaya District and Nagamachi District. We saw the Shinise Memorial Hall Museum which was only a 100-yen admission and is a restored Chinese pharmacy established in 1579. One of the exhibits was a candy tree, if it wasn't for the sign in English I wouldn't have guessed that it was made out of candy!

This is a CANDY tree!!

Shinise Memorial Hall Museum