The Old Streets of Kanazawa

An underrated city on the Sea of Japan

Kanazawa might be one of the more underrated places in Japan. It’s reasonably well visited by tourists because Kenrokuen, one of Japan’s three most famous gardens, but being along the Sea of Japan it’s a little bit out of the way. That’s to say, It’s not near either Tokyo or Kyoto.

When I extended my trip, I had to figure out where to go. I wanted to visit Kanazawa but it seemed like a ways away and I wasn’t crazy on the cost of getting there and back to Tokyo but I really wanted to revisit it because the last time I was there I’d only seen Kenrokuen. Fortunately, travel in Japan doesn’t require much pre-planning so while I compared the cost of flying to taking the shinkansen, I opted for the train because it would be easier, more enjoyable and more flexible abit at a slightly higher cost.

My first order of buisness was to see the three historic edo-era streets, Nishi Chaya, Kazue machi, and Higashiyama Higashi Chaya Districts. These were entertainment districts that historically were located just outside the city limits where geisha performed songs and danced. I saw geishas in the Nishi Chaya District but the Higashiyama Higashi Chaya district is so popular with tourists it’s become more of a tourist destination.

When I arrived at the Higashiyama Higashi Chaya district, the weather had turned for the worse and it started to rain. While it was a nice area, the amount of tourists was substantially more than the other two places and that sort of detracted its appear. Not that there were a lot of tourists, but it did feel a little more touristy.

Along with the three historic commerical streets there’s a fourth district called the Naga-machi District which was where samurai lived. This was my favourite area and I walked through it several times (both because it was on my way and because it was so beautiful). The area is significant for its preserved earthen walls and water canals surrounding the residences.

I was fortunate enough to get good weather on the first time and spent some time taking photos of the different material textures with the sun and shadows. Other walks were raining or sunny, depending on the day.

There several preserved houses taken care of by the municipal government that can be entred and the district also has a nice garden at the Nomura-ke residence, which used to be a samurai house. The garden was a surprise because it is a Z shape and the central pond is quite low, almost like a pit. There was good lighting and I also noticed that the engawa was thick wood planks.

Down the street are two museums, one is the Shinise Kinenkan which is a restored pharmacy. This was an interesting museum because it had a tea room and garden as well as some artefacts. Notably, there were Kaga Temari (embroidered balls) that are a Kanazawa traditional craft made by mothers and given to daughter’s for their wedding. They’re quite pretty.

On one of the later walks through the district I filmed it, so you can take a look here:

There are a few other historic buildings in the city and at the Kurando Terashima House it was recommended that I get a one day pass to all of the city’s museums which led me to going out to a small town of Kanazawa Yuwaku and the Edomura museum. This is a series of ten historic buildings that have been collected by the local government to be preserved. It’s pretty cool as there’s samurai residence, farm houses, an inn, and four thatched roofed buildings. I was the only visitor that afternoon and so I just wandered between buildings freely. But being the only one around, there were some dolls set up as residence that were kinda creepy.

Kanazawa has a surprsingly large number of museums, all clustered in a generally small area which makes getting to them pretty easy. I only visited like half of them. Probably the most famous is the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art designed by SANAA. Architecturally it’s quite famous as a circular building with rectangular rooms inside. From the outside it looks like a spaceship, completely foreign, but the interior feels like going to an aquarium only instead of fish one looks back out at the city. One of the strongest moments is a long wooden bench that looks out to the city. From the interior, it at once connects to the city with a view but also remains distant. For most people it’s in a prominent location, right at the entrance to Kenrokuen, and pretty eye catching. My first attempt was on a rainy day that turned to snow, but later on I passed by it again at night and took some better photos. The paid section of the museum is in the central core but all around the exterior perimeter is freely open to the public.

A famous architect from Kanazawa is Yoshiro Taniguchi and his son Yoshio. They have a museum which has a recreation of a tea room they made for the Japanese-Style Annex of the State Guest House in Akasaka Palace, Tokyo. It is an incredible room with beaitufl wood finishes. Fitting for a palace, it is an incredible example of Traditional Japanese interior aesthetics and one I didn’t expect to see in Kanazawa.

Taniguchi Yoshio also designed the D.T. Suzuki Museum which I visited afterwards. It’s dedicated to Suzuki Daisetz Teitaro (1870–1966) who was a prominent Buddhist philosopher. It is notable for having a large water garden and a place for contemplation. I’m not sure if the overcast weather was a factor, but I wasn’t very impressed with it architecturally. I thought the central building for contemplation was too massive and imposing, and the materials — steel, concrete, and white plaster— too cold.

I did however, come across a great quote:

“Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.”

When I read the quote, I thought of the book I wrote and how I could have quoted this. From what I can gather, this comes from a chapter to a book that I can’t access so there’s probably a lot more to it.

While in Kanazawa I also went to the Ohno Karakuri Memorial Museum which was designed by architect Shozo Uchii. It’s a pretty building and is a museum about mechanical puppets and wood puzzles so it’s also pretty fun. There were a number of puzzles to solve and they were just the right difficulty to be fun but not impossible.

That day I bought lunch at a convenience store and went to a green space on the map that turned out to be a fabulous park with a small pond. Along the edge of the pond was a really interesting rest area and further along a really cool public washroom.

If I could be paid to do research, I would undoubtably spend it researching Japanese garden structures and public washrooms. There’s such an interesting variety of both that I’m constantly finding.

Another architectural gem in Kanazawa is the Umimirai Library. It’s a fantastic building but has some weird querks. For one, photography inside is not allowed. For two, I sat down at an empty bench to read and was told that I couldn’t. Instead I had to register for a two hour slot and an assigned seat in between two studying school kids. The guy on the right fell asleep and started snoring which reallly bothered the girl on the left, but she didn’t know what to do so she kept staring, as if willing him to wake up. Funnily, he did.

If you’re wondering when I’ll show Kenrokuen, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Although I was in Kanazawa for six days, I didn’t go for two reasons: 1) I didn’t enjoy it that much the first time I was there, and 2) the weather was fairly poor and unlikely to bring out good views in the garden since it was neither blossoming flowers, autumn leaves, or covered in snow. That said, I did find an absolutely stellar garden.

Just across the street in the Kanazawa castle area is the Gyokusen’inmaru Garden. This is a top tier garden in my books because it is unique. It’s history stretches back to 1634 when Toshitsune Maeda, the third lord of the Kaga Domain had it constructed. In 2008 reconstruction work began and the garden oppened to the public in 2015. The garden features a large pond in the center and pathways around it. Since it is backed by stone walls of the castle, there is a unique depth to the garden that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I was fortunate to have the sun appear when I was there around sunset too and I also saw it in the evening when it was lit up.

Kanazawa City should also be applauded for the number of free attractions it has. Not only is Gyokusen’inmaru free, but most of Kanazawa castle is too and I saw four restored and preserved houses turned into museums. This makes it a great place to visit and that I highly recommend it.

I ended my trip to Kanazawa with the annual Firefighters New Year’s ceremony. Firemen gather in the park to celebrate the new year and put on a show of acrobatic stunts performed on tall ladders. It was quite impressive to see and ends with water sprayed up into the air.