29 May 2016
One can fall in love with Kanazawa! This is a city with plenty to see, do and eat. It has the old and new. Not so crowded and yet lively enough. It has city-scape, nature and one of the three best gardens in Japan. There are many attractions in Kanazawa and we managed to see the following within the day using the Kanazawa Loop Buses.
Omicho Market, Kenrokuen Garden, C21st Art Museum, Nagamachi Samurai district, Higashi Chaya and of course the Kanazawa Station which is an attraction on its own.
Tip : The One Day Bus Pass is an unlimited ride ticket for one day on buses including the Kanazawa Loop Bus, the Kenrokuen Shuttle, and other buses in designated areas. Cost 500 yen. It cannot be purchased on the bus. We bought it at the Hokutetsu Bus Ticket office. The same office is the one that we contacted to make the reservations and buy the tickets for the Express Bus journey from Kanazawa to Shirakawago.
The Loop Bus is a convenient bus for exploring the main sightseeing spots in Kanazawa City such as the Higashi Chaya District, Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa Castle Park, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Naga-machi Buke Yashiki District, and Omi-cho Market, etc. The Kanazawa Loop Bus has a Right Loop and a Left Loop route and runs every 15 minutes respectively. The Kenrokeun Shuttle runs every 20 minutes and offers a shorter route from the Kanazawa Station to the Kenrokeun Garden.
We had a choice of visiting Kenrokuen Garden in the early morning to beat the heat and crowd OR to go to Omicho Market first to have breakfast. The stomach won the battle. We took the Green (Left loop) bus and alighted at the Omicho Market which was the first stop from Kanazawa Station.
This is a place where locals came to shop for fresh seafood and many of the freshest fish and seafood ended up in Kanazawa’s sushi and seafood restaurants. In fact, there is a section of the market with plenty of restaurants. Most of these restaurants open only at lunch time but there were stalls selling cooked seafood for those looking for a bite.
From a place that sells the freshest seafood, we took the loop bus to a garden that is considered one of Japan's "three most beautiful landscape gardens" alongside Mito's Kairakuen and Okayama's Korakuen.
The small road that led us to the entrance was lined with stores selling souvenirs, ice cream, kimonos and stuff that a typical tourist may be interested in.
One of the hot items on sale at most souvenir shops in Japan were umbrellas that shows patterns like cats, paws prints, flowers images when wet.
And Matcha ice-cream.
Leaving the busy shopping street behind, we followed the yukata-clad ladies, bought our tickets and entered famous garden through the Katsurazaka Gate. Kenrokuen literally means "Garden of the Six Sublimities", referring to spaciousness, seclusion, artificiality, antiquity, abundant water and broad views, which according to Chinese landscape theory are the six essential attributes that make up a perfect garden.
One the first stop we made was the Kasumigaike pond with the famous Kotojitoro Lantern. This 2m tall stone lantern was uniquely built with two legs instead of one, and is an iconic symbol of Kenrokuen.
Patience paid off and I managed to get this shot of the Kotojitoro lantern and the Kasumigaike pond.
The view of the Kasumigaike pond from this spot was one the best.
The garden offered many other pretty pictures.
Iris was the flower in bloom. In early spring, this would be the place to see cherry blossoms.
Many ladies clad in colourful kimono clad were fluttering around like butterflies throughout the garden. Most were actually locals, dressed up to enjoy their day at the beautiful garden on a beautiful sunny day and not oversea tourists.
As we headed back towards the entrance, we crossed over a curved bridge made of one piece of blue tomuro stone and came to a fountain that is said to be the oldest in Japan.
The fountain water came from the Kasumigaike pond, and was spurted by the natural pressure caused by the difference in the surface levels of the two water bodies. The fountain shot about 3.5m high, depending on the surface level of Kasumigaike pond.
We left the garden from the same gate that we entered earlier and walked down the Edomachi Dori, a pleasant pedestrian way lined with cherry trees, shops and restaurants.
The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art was located a few minutes walk from the garden and was worth a quick visit to view the free exhibits.
From the museum, our next destination was the Nagamachi Samurai district. It was about one kilometer away and we could have walked there. Since we had bought the One Day Bus pass, we took the Kenrokeun Shuttle bus and saved our legs. This bus stop at Kanazawa actually has an electronic screen that showed the positions of the 3 buses operating the loop service in real time. Cool.
We alighted at the Korinbo bus stop. The Korinbo area is a modern shopping district. It would surprised many that an old historic samurai district is located just a short distant away. Running parallel to the modern shopping street of Korinbo is a small canal with a few small restaurants. We picked one that served seafood to have our lunch.
Nagamachi was a samurai district located at the foot of the former Kanazawa Castle, where samurai and their families used to reside. One of the main attractions of the Nagamachi district is the centrally located Nomura-ke, a restored samurai residence displaying the lifestyle and artifacts of the era when samurai were prosperous. We did not visit this but instead wandered through the narrow streets to view some other preserved houses that were opened to public.
From one old historical district to another. From the samurai living areas, we took the Loop Bus to the teahouse or entertainment district of Higashi Chayagai (Eastern Chaya District). There are actually 3 such districts within Kanazawa, with Higashi Chaya being the largest and most interesting.
One of the best thing to do at the teahouse district is to have afternoon tea in one of cafes with a view of the area from its balcony.
Besides cafes, there were sake stores, craft shops and several stores selling gold leaf products, a specialty of Kanazawa. 99 percent of Japan’s gold leaf products are made in Kanazawa. We visited the Hakuza Gold Leaf Store which has a traditional Japanese warehouse, which was completely covered inside and out with gold leaf.
There was a photo shoot involving some ladies modelling kimonos. This provided photo opportunities to keep me busy while my travelling companions were inside the stores buying gifts and souvenirs.
Just before leaving this area, we went to visit Sakuda Gold Leaf shop which featured a gold leaf covered toilet!
We were their last visitors for the day and although we were only a group of 4 persons, the staff brought us to an exhibition area to explain the process of gold leaf production. Then, each of us were served a cup of tea with floating gold leaves on it before being invited to use the golden toilet, located on the 2nd floor. Cool. Great Japanese hospitality.
We took the Green (Left Loop) Loop Bus back to the Kanazawa Station. This was the last time we used the One Day Bus Pass. Overall, the One Day Bus Pass provided good value and convenience (just need to show the pass to the driver).
A good way to end the day in Kanazawa was to have dinner in one of the many restaurants located on the 6th floor of the Forus Shopping Center, located next to the train station. Once again, we had seafood, a must try in Kanazawa.
Where we stayed in Kanazawa: Hotel Nikko Kanazawa, conveniently located at the doorstep of the beautiful Kanazawa Station.
