Kanazawa.
A city with a grand past and prosperous present.
Home to Japan’s second most powerful clan during the feudal era, today this city on
the Sea of Japan Coast remains significant not just as the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture
but also as a popular sightseeing destination.
With an impressive castle complex, outstanding landscape garden, a plethora of modern museums,
and even a bustling market, Kanazawa is truly a unique and worthwhile place to visit where
old and new co-exist side by side.
And this is we’ll be exploring today.
I’m Charles Sabas, videographer for japan-guide.com, and today I’m on assignment in Kanazawa.
Here’s the plan
After arriving at Kanazawa Station we’ll make the 15min walk to Omicho market for a
fresh seafood lunch.
Following this it’s on to Kanazawa Castle briefly seeing Oyama Shrine and Gyokuseninmaru
Garden along the way.
After the castle we’ll explore the lavish grounds of the famous Kenrokuen landscape
garden next door.
To end the day we’ll stop by a few of the nearby museums and then return to the station.
So, follow along as we spend a day exploring Kanazawa.
Behind me is the Tsuzumi Gate, shaped like a Tsuzumi drum, which means: we’re in Kanazawa.
Now one of the great things with Kanazawa is that most of its attractions are within
walking distance from the station, so without further ado, let’s grab a nice lunch at
Omicho Market.
Omicho market is the largest fresh food market in the city with a couple hundred vendors
selling everything from produce to seafood, and even flowers or kitchen tools.
So the coastal waters of Kanazawa are very popular for their fresh seafood and fresh
fish, so when you’re in kanazawa definitely grab a kaisendon, which is sashimi on top
of rice.It looks absolutely delicious.
This one is called Kanazawa-don, because it’s got gold leaf on the top, it’s kind of a
nod to Kanazawa’s culture and history of making gold leaf.
Itadakimasu Wow that’s really fresh.
After an excellent lunch, we’ll head toward Kanazawa Castle.
On the way we’ll swing by Oyama Shrine whose entrance gate is known for its unique blend of European
and Asian architecture styles.
And also the small Gyokuseninmaru Garden which
is on the edge of the castle grounds.
From Omicho Market we made the short walk to Kanazawa Castle which you can see behind
me.
Now this used to be the base of the Maeda Clan was the richest in the country after
the shogun.
Only a few structures remain, however there’s a lot of great efforts that have been done
over the years to rebuild some of the structures like they used to be before.
Two interesting things about this castle is you have to carry your shoes and also they
have these displays here which are really interesting to see how they rebuilt this castle
using no nails, which is very impressive.
Now one of the things to be careful inside Japanese castles is the steep staircases which
can be a bit dangerous.
Only a few steps from the castle is the beautiful Kenrokuen landscape garden.
We made the short walk from Kanazawa castle to Kenrokuen, which is one of the top 3 landscape
gardens in Japan and according to many the most beautiful.
The garden looks very scenic at any time of the year so pretty much there’s never a
bad time to come here.
In spring you have some beautiful cherry blossoms, in summer, the leaves are very green and vivid
and in fall it’s a very beautiful autumn color season spot.
Having explored the outstanding garden grounds and also the elegant Seisonkaku samurai villa
next door, we’re moving on to a few of the many high-quality museums in the area.
First up is the D.T. Suzuki museum whose minimal and peaceful design invites visitors to stop
and reflect.
To end the day we decided to come to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art.
There are different art installations on the grounds of the museum which are very interesting
to look at and walk around.
And with that it’s back to Kanazawa Station where our trip comes to an end.
Thanks for joining me.I hope this video has been enjoyable and even inspires some ideas,
should you be planning a trip in the area.
For more information about this itinerary or to watch another video, click the links
on the screen now, or head over to japan-guide.com, your comprehensive up-to-date travel guide,
first hand from Japan.
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Happy travels.