Speak of a tourist visit to Japan, and inevitably people will ask about places like Tokyo (for mine, the most amazing city in the world), Kyoto (gorgeous, worth as much time as you can afford to spend there) or Hiroshima (haven’t been, but there’s definitely more to it than its nuclear scars). Perhaps Kobe (great beef, and the earthquake museum is a must-see), Osaka (boringly industrial), Sapporo (cold) or Nara (doe, a deer, LOTS of deer). But some of the best places to visit in Japan are a little away from the usual sights. One such is Kanazawa, the highlight of my own time in Japan.
Located across the mountains from Tokyo, on the coast facing the Korean peninsula, Kanazawa (literally “gold marsh”) is the product of a serendipitous location and history. Fertile fields, a sheltered coast and nearby gold deposits combined to make it a prosperous city and the seat of the powerful Maeda clan and their vassals, the Honda clan. Being across the mountains, combined with the Maeda knack of ending up on the winning side of Japan’s feudal wars, protected Kanazawa from being ravaged by those wars. In the 20th century, the location protected Kanazawa in a different way- it was unsuitable for use by Japan’s World War 2 military industrial establishment, and so was spared the bombs that flattened most other significant Japanese cities.
The sights, sounds, tastes and feels of modern Kanazawa can all be traced to that history.
Sights
The crowning glory of Kanazawa is Kenrokuen Garden, built by the Maeda family as the outer garden of Kanazawa castle (the castle is one of the few pieces of Kanazawa heritage that has not survived to the present day, due to earthquakes and fires over the centuries), high on a hill in the center of Kanazawa with views over the rest of the city. It became open to the public after the Meiji Restoration (the time in Japan when the Emperor was returned to power after centuries of the shogunate, and Japan was opened to the West) and is one of the official 3 most beautiful gardens of Japan. I had the opportunity to visit Kenrokuen not only during the day, but also at night for a winter concert with the trees lit up. It is quite an experience. On the edge of the garden there is a villa built during the Restoration by a Maeda lord for his mother in a Japanese style but using expensive imported Western materials, paints and carpets that only a family like the Maedas could have afforded at the time. It is well worth the extra admission fee.
Down at the base of that hill are the remains of the old feudal town, preserved due to the aforementioned lack of bombing and the city’s pride in its origins. There is an entire street where feudal-era wooden facades and screens have been carefully preserved, including some old samurai and geisha houses where even the interiors have been left intact as tourist spots, and as you wander the narrow winding streets and canals in the old areas of the city it is common to see an old preserved house or temple here and there. The locals are proud of their city, and in the old districts even the new houses are designed to maintain the architectural look of the area.
There are a number of museums within town devoted to Maeda and Honda artifacts, and perhaps the best is the official Honda family museum up a scenic set of steps near the town center which displays not only the old samurai swords and artworks which are near ubiquitous in Japanese museums, but also things like a complete set of horse tack and armor (how the horse could carry all that and a rider in his own armor, I have no idea), the “fireproof” sleeping gear of the lord and lady of the clan and centuries’ worth of household implements.
Tastes
As one would expect of a wealthy seaside city, Kanazawa became known long ago throughout Japan for its “Kaga” cuisine, a style rich in seafood and (as one might expect of the cuisine in a wealthy Japanese city) where the style of presentation is an integral part of the cooking.
It is easy to get good food in Japan, but it seemed impossible to miss great food in Kanazawa. I ate at a family restaurant in an alleyway downtown, where the father of the family cooked, the mother was the only waitress and the child ran around under the watchful eye of us patrons. I made friends with the neighbouring table of old Japanese ladies, in a mixture of my halting Japanese and their halting English, and we all immensely enjoyed food which was so rich, complex and artfully served for a small restaurant which seemed so simple. The next day, I ate sitting on the floor (as you do) at the lakeside restaurant within Kenrokuen Garden, which unlike most tourist restaurants produced a feast worthy of the stunning location. Other visitors to Kanazawa I know have reported similar experiences. As long as you like seafood, it is a foodie heaven. I’m told the local sake is pretty awesome too.
Crafts
I mentioned “gold marsh” and “gold deposits” earlier, and indeed much of the feudal wealth of Kanazawa came from gold. It produces 99% of Japanese gold leaf, and gold-based crafts are a local specialty which you won’t find in very many other places in Japan, including gold and silver inlays in metalwork and gold-thread embroidery. One of the gifts I brought home was a gold-leaf encrusted Hello Kitty hand mirror: the perfect mix of old and new Japan, wouldn’t you say? Some places in Kanazawa will serve you tea with a small amount of gold leaf in it, which is meant to bring prosperity and health (I invite our Game of Thrones fans to consider the ramifications of Tywin drinking such tea before going to the privy, especially if they’ve read the books, but I digress).
But Kanazawa is a center for other crafts too. Porcelain and lacquerware, the “Kaga yusen” silk-dying style, paper-making and bamboo umbrellas. Not hard to get a unique souvenir of your visit.
Modern Touches
For all the history, Kanazawa is still a modern Japanese city. Mere blocks away from the canals and old samurai houses you find the modern downtown skyscrapers and shopping malls. A thankfully modern bus system serves as the main transportation apart from walking, and downhill from Kenrokuen Garden is a critically acclaimed piece of 21st century architecture, which appropriately serves as the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art and is well worth a look.
If you’re planning a trip to Japan, or know someone who is, I thoroughly recommend trying to fit Kanazawa into the schedule.
(all photos courtesy of the author)
