Kanazawa 4 – Nomura House

One of the best preserved houses in the samurai district is Nomura House (野村家), a house owned by a samurai family that fell into poverty with the end of the Edo-period in the late 1800s and was then bought and restored by a wealthy businessman in the early 1900s. The house is now a museum, the highlight of which is the gorgeous garden. Here I’ve gone for a bit of a retro film look:

The house was awarded 2-stars in the Michelin Guide and the garden was recently voted the third best garden in a Japanese garden magazine!

Kanazawa 3 – Samurai District

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.

Kanazawa 2 – Restaurant

Just outside the Katsurazaka Gate of Kenrokuen is a small shopping street with souvenir shops and restaurants.

We had some lunch in 堤停 (tsutsumi-tei?), a very pleasant restaurant with set menus and nice views over the street from the second floor.

Kanazawa 1 – Kenrokuen (兼六園)

Ranked as one of the top three gardens, in that particular Japanese habit of ranking things in threes, Kenrokuen in Kanazawa really does justify its place.

The garden lies right in the middle of the city and was made a public garden in 1871. Before that it was part of the outer garden of Kanazawa castle and took nearly 200 years to complete, starting in the 1620s. The garden is centered around Kasumigaeki Pond with the Uchihashi-tei Tea House jutting over the water:

The unique two-legged Kotojitoro Lantern:

We went in May which was just too late for the cherry blossoms but beyond the central pond there are very pleasant walking paths featuring streams with blooming irises, historic tea houses, and small waterfalls:

Although I imagine it really would be spectacular earlier in spring when the plum and cherry blossoms are out, I think it is very much worth seeing any time of the year.