Pre-trip

Top-tier advice: purchase esim beforehand! A quick research shows that for comfortable use for 30 days, it costs around 10,000 yen (~80 SGD) to buy an esim at the airport. There is an esim on klook that costs 21 SGD, with 1GB per day usage. It works well! Stonks.

To Kanazawa

I took the Skyliner train from Narita terminal 1 to Keisei-Ueno station. I did not know I must reserve seats, so there was a bit of a delay :(

Nevertheless, the scenery on the Skyliner trainer is decent.

It took about 50 mins to travel from Narita airport to the city center. From there, I took the Hokuriku shinkansen to Kanazawa.

The scenes along the shinkansen were quite picteresque, though it is unfortunately mostly blocked by the high fences along the rail.

Nagamachi Samurai district

Step into the Edo period and before, where the Samurai warriors are of the higher class of Japan. Here I got to visit some preserved residential houses of past Samurais. The houses exude a sense of tranquility and beauty, with some of the most serene gardens.

And here is a beautiful house where it was previously a horse stable. In the past, only rich families with lots of land could own horses.

The horses are usually used for transport. Moreover, there are very strict protocols for the servants to take care of the horses and to prepare the horses for his masters to ride.

The district itself is cobblestoned, with various houses along the side selling pottery artworks. The street puts you back right into the Japanese feudal period.

Overall however, the district is relatively small, so it can be fully explored within 2 hours. Moreover, the attractions also do not offer a lot to see, so it can be a little bit underwhelming. Nevertheless, the district gives a great experience back to the historic period of Japan.

I ate Hanton rice, a dish only found in Kanazawa, at Grill Otsuka. The restaurant has a high rating on Tabelog, and especially good reviews on Hanton rice.

In all honesty I find this dish to be average. Ketchup just never works with egg and rice for me, the taste is odd. The protein is deep fried shrimp, which works better in regular Japanese curry rice.

Kanazawa castle

On day 2, I went to Kanazawa castle at around 7.30 - 10. I would definitely recommend visiting it in the morning: the morning breeze was cool, and there were not a lot of people.

There were two observation points that you can do a short hike up, these points allow you to see the castle and the surrounding area at a greater height. The morning scene looks calming and peaceful.

Tiger paintings were particularly popular in this palace, because it shows the great power of the feudal lord to the point of being able to tame beasts.

There was a theater where you can see a brief history of the palace. The gold leaf ice cream spot was an amazing place to sit and chill while observing the castle. They were closed on the day I visited, so I sat there without the gold leaf ice cream :)

Omicho market

Next, I went to Omicho market, a seafood market. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can only get fresh food, you can request them to cook for you on the spot! This is where I got lots of snacks and light bites.

The crab cream croquette is a must-get! It was well-seasoned, with crispy panko crust, and I must say it was 460 yen well spent. I observed that even some locals and students were getting from the same stall.

For lunch I got seafood donburi. It was good, with a good mix of seafood.

Higashi district

Another street with Edo vibe, but for Geiko. Here, there are various tea houses where you can catch a performance by the Geiko’s, though with a price (between 5000 yen to 25000 yen), and you must come on the right day. Some houses have performances only in certain periods, some houses have only on certain days.

Interestingly, when I was here, I saw lots of local students also visiting this district.

A must-get here is gold-leaf ice cream. Kanazawa produces most of Japan’s gold leaves, and so gold leaves also find their way onto ice cream. The ice cream is nice, though the gold leaf adds nothing to the texture or the taste. It is rather for aesthetic purposes only.

I also managed to visit the Shima tea house. It is one of the national protected properties. The house is a place where Geiko previously stayed and performed. Here, I got to enjoy matcha tea and Japanese sweets with a beautiful garden view.

Utatsuyama Park Hanashouben

After Higashi district, it was still early in the afternoon, so I went up the hill to visit this park. I walked up a slope of 50m and 12 degrees inclination (measured with a clinometer 😁)

I walked up a slope to find some in-the-middle-of-nowhere shrines. It really gives a vibe of being in the middle of a forest with an abandoned cabin.

Other than this, there was an observatory with mid-ish view, so there wasn’t a lot to see here.

Asano river on the way back.

Kenrokuen garden

The next morning, I visited Kenrokuen garden, one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. The garden is absolutely beautiful, with a stunning central pond and artfully-crafted trees.

You can feel like these trees come straight out of the paintings hung on the wall, looking absolutely more beautiful than any other regular garden.

Here are some more picturesque photos from the garden.

Concluding words

Kanazawa is a small city, with all attractions located around the Kanazawa castle, so if you are a big hiker, you can go everywhere on foot. In general, attractions are at a smaller scale, so expect yourself to fully explore one place with less time. My initial itinerary did not include Utatsuyama park, I added that because I finished Higashi district. Overall, there is a good mix of nature and history.