First-timers’ trip to Japan: 4 weeks, an unexpectedly awesome trip
Dec 26th, 2023, 12:20 PM
#163
Original Poster
November 3
Arrival in Kanazawa
We arrived in Kanazawa, a beautiful and wealthy city, once the seat of power of the Maeda family, who built extensively and sponsored many craftspeople, allowing the arts to flourish. Kanazawa is also the center of gold leaf production. There are many contemporary and historic sights in Kanazawa, and the Kenrokuen Garden is considered one of Japan’s top landscape gardens.After arriving at the train station, we were wowed by its entrance gate, the Tsuzuzimon Gate, which that was modeled after traditional Japanese drums. Of course, so was everyone else, so no great photos of this magnificent architectural structure.
A quick taxi ride took us to our hotel, the Mitsui Garden Hotel Kanazawa, a very comfortable hotel and centrally located. The very best part was its top floor onsen, something I was definitely getting addicted to! Instead of a shower in the room, I’d go upstairs to the onsen in the morning, where I’d need to wash before soaking, and wash afterwards. It was a heavenly way to start the day.
After settling in, we stopped into the Omichi market, a vibrant market selling primarily seafood. Lots of vendors and many wonderful restaurants. We had a short wait on line but had a wonderful lunch there. And, for dessert, I had to have the gold-leaf covered ice cream cone! It’s really gold leaf, too! No, there’s no taste, but I’m told it’s good for one’s digestion. I don’t know if there’s any truth to that, but I had no effects from it, one way or another other!
We arrived on Friday, Nov. 3, which I discovered was Culture Day, a holiday celebrating Japan’s culture and arts. The weather was mostly beautiful over the weekend, and we saw more crowds here than we’d seen for a while.
While Kanazawa is a fairly large city, the major tourist sights - the castle, the gardens, the major museums - are very close to one another and pretty walkable. There are also tourist buses that make a loop through many of the sights. The city has an intimate feeling despite its size.
Arrival in Kanazawa
We arrived in Kanazawa, a beautiful and wealthy city, once the seat of power of the Maeda family, who built extensively and sponsored many craftspeople, allowing the arts to flourish. Kanazawa is also the center of gold leaf production. There are many contemporary and historic sights in Kanazawa, and the Kenrokuen Garden is considered one of Japan’s top landscape gardens.After arriving at the train station, we were wowed by its entrance gate, the Tsuzuzimon Gate, which that was modeled after traditional Japanese drums. Of course, so was everyone else, so no great photos of this magnificent architectural structure.
A quick taxi ride took us to our hotel, the Mitsui Garden Hotel Kanazawa, a very comfortable hotel and centrally located. The very best part was its top floor onsen, something I was definitely getting addicted to! Instead of a shower in the room, I’d go upstairs to the onsen in the morning, where I’d need to wash before soaking, and wash afterwards. It was a heavenly way to start the day.
After settling in, we stopped into the Omichi market, a vibrant market selling primarily seafood. Lots of vendors and many wonderful restaurants. We had a short wait on line but had a wonderful lunch there. And, for dessert, I had to have the gold-leaf covered ice cream cone! It’s really gold leaf, too! No, there’s no taste, but I’m told it’s good for one’s digestion. I don’t know if there’s any truth to that, but I had no effects from it, one way or another other!
We arrived on Friday, Nov. 3, which I discovered was Culture Day, a holiday celebrating Japan’s culture and arts. The weather was mostly beautiful over the weekend, and we saw more crowds here than we’d seen for a while.
While Kanazawa is a fairly large city, the major tourist sights - the castle, the gardens, the major museums - are very close to one another and pretty walkable. There are also tourist buses that make a loop through many of the sights. The city has an intimate feeling despite its size.
Dec 27th, 2023, 03:13 AM
#164
Original Poster
Kanazawa - arrival and Omicho market photos
Tsuzuzimon Gate - this doesn’t really show the architectural beauty of this structure, but it was the best I could do at the time
Omicho Market
Mmm…lunch!
Mmm…lunch!
Yes, that is gold leaf on the ice cream cone!
Tsuzuzimon Gate - this doesn’t really show the architectural beauty of this structure, but it was the best I could do at the time
Omicho Market
Mmm…lunch!
Mmm…lunch!
Yes, that is gold leaf on the ice cream cone!
Dec 27th, 2023, 04:07 AM
#165
Original Poster
Saturday, November 4
We started our visit to Kanazawa with a volunteer guide, Tomoko, from the Kanazawa Goodwill Guide Network, which I had arranged about a month or more prior to our trip. A retired English teacher, she was a real delight and passionate about the city. We had a wonderful day with her.Our first stop was the exterior grounds of Kanazawa Castle, seat of the powerful Maeda clan. It is mostly reconstructed to specifications from the 1850 design. Though it’s a reconstruction, it is a magnificent building and the gates and the details are remarkable.
The castle grounds also contains a lovely park, the Gyokuseninmaru Garden. From here, we stop by the Oyama Jinja shrine and its park.
Before we arrived in Japan,, Tomoko had corresponded with us to find out our interests. She wondered if we were interested in a traditional tea ceremony. I was worried it might be a bit hokey, but it turned out to be a small but very personal experience. We were served a sweet and a traditional Kanazawa rice cracker, a shibafune, which is like a ginger cookie only much lighter. Delicious!
We loved the Nagamachi Samurai district, the historic district where samurai used to live. We visited Nomura-ke, a beautifully restored samurai residence with one of the most beautiful small gardens (and that’s saying a lot!).
We visited the Higashi Chaya district, one of the 3 geisha districts of Kanazawa, and very popular on a Saturday afternoon of a holiday weekend! The name means Eastern Teahouse district and it was where the geisha traditionally entertained guests. There are a few tea houses left, though many of the buildings are now restaurants and gift shops. Many young women come to take their photos dressed in traditional clothing.
Tomoko also took us to one of the gold leaf production shops. Lovely objects (I’m kicking myself for not buying anything here), and there are workshops here if you want to learn how to work with gold leaf. Of course, you must check out the gold leaf covered bathroom!
We started our visit to Kanazawa with a volunteer guide, Tomoko, from the Kanazawa Goodwill Guide Network, which I had arranged about a month or more prior to our trip. A retired English teacher, she was a real delight and passionate about the city. We had a wonderful day with her.Our first stop was the exterior grounds of Kanazawa Castle, seat of the powerful Maeda clan. It is mostly reconstructed to specifications from the 1850 design. Though it’s a reconstruction, it is a magnificent building and the gates and the details are remarkable.
The castle grounds also contains a lovely park, the Gyokuseninmaru Garden. From here, we stop by the Oyama Jinja shrine and its park.
Before we arrived in Japan,, Tomoko had corresponded with us to find out our interests. She wondered if we were interested in a traditional tea ceremony. I was worried it might be a bit hokey, but it turned out to be a small but very personal experience. We were served a sweet and a traditional Kanazawa rice cracker, a shibafune, which is like a ginger cookie only much lighter. Delicious!
We loved the Nagamachi Samurai district, the historic district where samurai used to live. We visited Nomura-ke, a beautifully restored samurai residence with one of the most beautiful small gardens (and that’s saying a lot!).
We visited the Higashi Chaya district, one of the 3 geisha districts of Kanazawa, and very popular on a Saturday afternoon of a holiday weekend! The name means Eastern Teahouse district and it was where the geisha traditionally entertained guests. There are a few tea houses left, though many of the buildings are now restaurants and gift shops. Many young women come to take their photos dressed in traditional clothing.
Tomoko also took us to one of the gold leaf production shops. Lovely objects (I’m kicking myself for not buying anything here), and there are workshops here if you want to learn how to work with gold leaf. Of course, you must check out the gold leaf covered bathroom!
Dec 27th, 2023, 05:08 AM
#167
Original Poster
Kanazawa Castle - exterior
The Kahoku-mon gate, one of the 3 gates to the castle, serves as the main gate of Kanazawa Castle, and has been restored to its former condition after 130years.
Love the details
The Kahoku-mon gate, one of the 3 gates to the castle, serves as the main gate of Kanazawa Castle, and has been restored to its former condition after 130years.
Love the details
Dec 27th, 2023, 05:25 AM
#168
Original Poster
Gyokuseninmaru Garden, a pretty garden with a central pond and circular walking path, and Oyama-jinja (Oyama Shrine), a Shinto shrine
You can’t go to Japan and not fall in love with the gardens!
Oyama-jinja
You can’t go to Japan and not fall in love with the gardens!
Oyama-jinja
Dec 27th, 2023, 09:15 AM
#170
Original Poster
Dec 27th, 2023, 09:36 AM
#171
Original Poster
Samurai district
We loved the Nagamachi Samurai district, the historic district where samurai used to live. We visited Nomura-ke, a beautifully restored Samurai residence with one of the most beautiful small gardens (and that’s saying a lot!).
We loved the Nagamachi Samurai district, the historic district where samurai used to live. We visited Nomura-ke, a beautifully restored Samurai residence with one of the most beautiful small gardens (and that’s saying a lot!).
Dec 27th, 2023, 09:40 AM
#172
Original Poster
We visited the Higashi Chaya district, one of the 3 geisha districts of Kanazawa, and very popular on a Saturday afternoon of a holiday weekend! The name means Eastern Teahouse district and it was where the geisha traditionally entertained guests. There are a few tea houses left, though many of the buildings are now restaurants and gift shops. Many young women come to take their photos dressed in traditional clothing, but we didn’t see any real geisha.
A busy Saturday afternoon in the Geisha district
A busy Saturday afternoon in the Geisha district
Dec 27th, 2023, 09:46 AM
#173
Original Poster
An intimate Tea Ceremony
Before we arrived in Kanazawa, our Goodwill Guide, Tomoko, had corresponded with us to find out our interests. She wondered if we were interested in a traditional tea ceremony, and it turned out to be a small but very personal experience. We were served a sweet and a traditional Kanazawa rice cracker, a shibafune, which is like a ginger cookie only much lighter. Delicious!
The sweet - design is everything, too.
M being shown how to mix the tea. He will serve me and then, in turn, I will do the same and serve him.
We’re being documented!
Before we arrived in Kanazawa, our Goodwill Guide, Tomoko, had corresponded with us to find out our interests. She wondered if we were interested in a traditional tea ceremony, and it turned out to be a small but very personal experience. We were served a sweet and a traditional Kanazawa rice cracker, a shibafune, which is like a ginger cookie only much lighter. Delicious!
The sweet - design is everything, too.
M being shown how to mix the tea. He will serve me and then, in turn, I will do the same and serve him.
We’re being documented!
Dec 27th, 2023, 11:42 AM
#174
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Like you I really enjoyed the Nagamachi district. I didn't appreciate the Higashiyama district much, in part because of how crowded it was. It seems like time of day may not matter. And it's fun looking at some of the photos, and going "Yes, I recognize that place." or even recalling what we doing at the time.
Dec 27th, 2023, 01:33 PM
#175
Original Poster
tripplanner, We didn’t stay long in the Higashiyama district, but that was near the location of our tea ceremony. I was glad to see the area briefly and I enjoyed seeing the young women dressed in their traditional clothing. But it’s a popular area for tourists so not a place to linger long.
I also enjoy seeing the same places in your trip reports. It’s fun to realize I’ve been in some of those places very recently!
I also enjoy seeing the same places in your trip reports. It’s fun to realize I’ve been in some of those places very recently!
Dec 27th, 2023, 07:36 PM
#176
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I am so enjoying this trip report! I love all of the photos and details. The view from your ryokan room looks like a dream!
I waited to start reading this report until I had time to take notes while going through. I'm hoping to plan out my November 2024 trip in a bit more detail this week so I know whether or not I need to shift around days from one planned location to another. And then comes the hard work of waiting for a decent flight fare so that I have confirmed dates to work with!
I noticed that the Richmond Premier Hotel has both smoking and non-smoking room options. Did you notice any cigarette odor while you were there?
I waited to start reading this report until I had time to take notes while going through. I'm hoping to plan out my November 2024 trip in a bit more detail this week so I know whether or not I need to shift around days from one planned location to another. And then comes the hard work of waiting for a decent flight fare so that I have confirmed dates to work with!
I noticed that the Richmond Premier Hotel has both smoking and non-smoking room options. Did you notice any cigarette odor while you were there?
Dec 28th, 2023, 04:21 AM
#177
Original Poster
memejs,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I hoped this would be helpful to other first-time travelers to Japan! I’ve so enjoyed your writing and it makes me feel good that you’re enjoying this report.
We never had any awareness of smoke in the room we were staying in or anywhere we were around the hotel. There’s a designated room for smoking within the hotel but it’s pretty isolated and didn’t affect us.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I hoped this would be helpful to other first-time travelers to Japan! I’ve so enjoyed your writing and it makes me feel good that you’re enjoying this report.
We never had any awareness of smoke in the room we were staying in or anywhere we were around the hotel. There’s a designated room for smoking within the hotel but it’s pretty isolated and didn’t affect us.
Dec 28th, 2023, 04:37 AM
#178
Original Poster
Okonomiyaki
One of our favorite meal experiences was okonomiyaki, a sort of large eggy pancake that consists of a filling (in our case, seafood) and is cooked on the grill right in front of us. We had gone into the Kanazawa M’za, a large department store a few blocks from our hotel and just opposite the Omicho Market, to ogle the food at the food court on the ground floor level. We discovered that there were a number of restaurants there, too. And we were able to get seated right away! Our first experience of onomiyaki! I didn’t fall totally in love with the food, (the BBQ-like sauce and other stuff that gets squirted on didn’t entirely appeal), but we enjoyed the experience totally.
One of our favorite meal experiences was okonomiyaki, a sort of large eggy pancake that consists of a filling (in our case, seafood) and is cooked on the grill right in front of us. We had gone into the Kanazawa M’za, a large department store a few blocks from our hotel and just opposite the Omicho Market, to ogle the food at the food court on the ground floor level. We discovered that there were a number of restaurants there, too. And we were able to get seated right away! Our first experience of onomiyaki! I didn’t fall totally in love with the food, (the BBQ-like sauce and other stuff that gets squirted on didn’t entirely appeal), but we enjoyed the experience totally.
Dec 28th, 2023, 04:51 AM
#179
Original Poster
Gold and more gold!
And I missed posting the last stop with Tomoko at the gold leaf shop! We were given an overview of the process of making the gold leaf (sorry, I didn’t take any photos of this), which really was interesting to me, particularly because my father was a framemaker and used gold leaf regularly in his work. I have memories of playing with the books that contained gold leaf after they were emptied but still left little hints of the gold. So watching the process of its being made resonated with me. We were told that the Kinkaku-ji, or Golden Pavilion, a temple in Kyoto, is covered with Kanazawa gold leaf.
The show-stopper here is the gold-covered bathroom! For your viewing pleasure:
And I missed posting the last stop with Tomoko at the gold leaf shop! We were given an overview of the process of making the gold leaf (sorry, I didn’t take any photos of this), which really was interesting to me, particularly because my father was a framemaker and used gold leaf regularly in his work. I have memories of playing with the books that contained gold leaf after they were emptied but still left little hints of the gold. So watching the process of its being made resonated with me. We were told that the Kinkaku-ji, or Golden Pavilion, a temple in Kyoto, is covered with Kanazawa gold leaf.
The show-stopper here is the gold-covered bathroom! For your viewing pleasure:
Dec 28th, 2023, 09:58 AM
#180
Am fairly sure that okonomiyaki place is the one I suggested to ms_go. It is Boteju, I think, in the basement food court. I sat at the perpendicular counter to your right
The sauce is a bit rich-flavored (the other stuff was j-mayo) and sweet and I get why a person might not like it. It is that sauce, I think, that has the hook that causes the okonomiyaki cravings that mr_go and I get. A person who likes katsu sauce (on tonkatsu/katsudon) would probably like okonomiyaki sauce.
Happy to see the several photos you got of ladies (and the 3-year old girl) in kimono.
The sauce is a bit rich-flavored (the other stuff was j-mayo) and sweet and I get why a person might not like it. It is that sauce, I think, that has the hook that causes the okonomiyaki cravings that mr_go and I get. A person who likes katsu sauce (on tonkatsu/katsudon) would probably like okonomiyaki sauce.
Happy to see the several photos you got of ladies (and the 3-year old girl) in kimono.
Last edited by mrwunrfl; Dec 28th, 2023 at 10:04 AM.
