One of the highlights of Kawazawa are the preserved traditional townhouses in the samurai district called Nagamachi, although unfortunately there aren’t any actual samurai to be seen. It’s a wonderful area to just stroll around and soak up the atmosphere of the days of the Edo era some 300 years ago. Kanazawa was an important strategic town at the time and many samurai from the powerful Maeda clan were stationed here. The whole area preserves the high walls, narrow streets, and canals of the period.
These days, with not much need for samurai anymore, there are many cafes, crafts and pottery makers, museums, and antique shops throughout the district which makes for a very nice day out. In fact, even at the time, there wasn’t much need of samurai. After 250 years of peace and isolation from the outside world many samurai families were broke by the end of the Edo period.
Travels on a Small Island 2 