What an incredible city. Kanazawa is filled with the clean lines of modern new buildings, harmoniously blending with historic Japanese architecture – some dating from the 1600s.
We finally had warmer weather today – with temps reaching a perfect 60, no rain, and cloudy skies clearing to a bright sunny day. A great setting for exploring ancient parts of the city.
First up – the well-preserved Higashi Chaya Geisha District – now filled with tea rooms, lovely gift shops, and their famous gold-leafed ice cream. I thought seriously about it, but my better judgment overruled eating the gold-leaf-covered ice cream, but we saw plenty of it in the hands of young Japanese patrons (all snapping pics). This is the center of gold leaf and also the silk used in kimonos. I remain surprised by the number of young Japanese women walking around dressed in traditional kimonos. It is not an everyday occurrence for the girls, it’s something they do for special occasions or just for fun (and selfies).
Next stop, one of the top three gardens in Japan, the Kenrokuen Gardens. Adjacent to the Kanazawa Castle (reconstruction is ongoing), the gardens were beautiful and will be amazing when the cherry trees bloom.
Lovely plum trees were already in flower. The name of the garden reflects its six qualities: spaciousness, seclusion, an air of antiquity, ingenuity, flowing water, and views. It’s designated a National Site of Scenic Beauty as well as a National Site of Special Scenic Beauty. I wish we’d had more time here to just sit and contemplate our surroundings. There are many attributes to having a guide, but in this case, our comical leader kept herding us along like we were trying to be first to a finish line.
We topped off the day with a visit to the fascinating Nagamachi Samurai District and the Nomura Samurai House. This site had absolutely gorgeous gardens with flowing water, but walkways surrounding the home with no rails or barriers. Since you take off your shoes and walk in socks inside these Japanese houses, temples, etc., I have visions of misstepping and sliding right into ponds and plants, or down a flight of stairs (which I have been known to do, with shoes on, in the past). The entire district was split with a canal flowing through, originally designed for fire prevention. New homes are mixed in with the old, but the entire area was charming. One good thing about having even a flaky guide was finding out there were also two restored houses that had belonged to lower-class samurai, and we made sure to get in a quick peek.
Kanazawa will be at the top of my must-see list for those planning a visit to Japan.
