Everyday's a brand new day

The blog is mainly for my travel diary and diet record, but sometimes for sharing some daily findings :).
All articles will be fully in English, in order for me to improve my writing skill.

Kanazawa 12/28/2016-12/30/2016

The very first blog article!


And it's about my last 3 days trip to Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Transportation: Shinkansen Hakutaka - about 2.5 hours travel


Acommodation: Kanazawa new grand hotel, located in front of "Oyama Jinja shrine".
金沢ニューグランドホテル❘歴史と伝統が今も受け継がれ、金沢の中心に位置し、主要観光名所へと徒歩で向かうことができる観光に便利なホテル
Its facility is very basic and some of them are rather old but kept clean and the hotel staff are quite friendly and helpful.  Also the location is convinient for sightseeing where bus stop is only 3 mins walking distance.


The first thing I did was to purchase one day bus ticket at information centre in the station.  It costs 500 yen and you can get on and off as much as you want for one day.  Since it costs 200 yen for a single trip, it's definitely worthy to get this ticket.  You can also buy it for future use, so that you don't have to come back to the station everyday.  Be careful, it's NOT sold on the bus!
City map, bus route map and some excursion ideas can all be found in the information centre.


1st day:

21st centruy museum of cotemporary art, Kanazawa 金沢21世紀美術館 | 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.

To be honest, if you're not into contemporary art, it may not worth paying the entrance fee to get inside.  The famous "pool" is on free entry zone anyway.

Imai Kinpaku Hirosaka branch 今井金箔 店舗紹介 - 広坂店

The shop is located just on the corner of the art museum and Kenroku-en garden.
One of the must-do activities in Kanazawa is to have "Golden soft cream".
It tastes just like a normal vanilla soft cream but this is something you can post on FB or Instagram ;).

Nishi Chaya-gai

There're three Chaya-gais in Kanazawa; Higash, Kazue-machi and Nishi.
Higashi is the most famous one and I think Nishi is the smallest and less famous.
But there're still beautiful tradditional buildings and nice restaurants and bars.
Unfortunately, as it was still around 3:00 to 4:00 when I got there, most of them were not yet open...but anyway I needed something to drink and ended up in Cacao Sampaka.

Cacao SampakaCACAO SAMPAKA 金沢店

Of course Cacao Sampaka is Spanish chocolatier, but in Kanazawa, even this shop is so stylishly Japanese.  The shop is in one of the tradditional building, renovated a little.  On the second floor, you can have drinks and sweets in tatami room.

Oyama Jinja shrine - 尾山神社

Every shrine in Japan has very similar shape of gate but at Oyama Jinja shrine, it has a very peculiar shape and design with stained glass window on top!  With sunset, it sparkls beautifully.  The shrine is dedicated to the former ruler of Kaga han (Kanazawa, today); Maeda Toshiie and his wife Matsu.

Jin-yaじんや - 北鉄金沢/居酒屋 [食べログ]

The izakaya is located just next to Oyama Jinja shrine.  I really cannot believe this place has only 3.03 rate in Tabelog!  Everything was fantastic, expecially yellowtail shabu-shabu and milt (shirako) tempura.  Actually, I arrived there earlier than they opened for dinner, but it was freezing outside and they were kind enough to let me in and wait inside.

2nd day:

Sushi Enome - 鮨 えのめ(金沢/寿司屋) - ぐるな

Sushi brunch to start off the second day!  Located in Omicho market.  They provide sushi and kaisen-don with fresh fish.  And they have smaller size of kaisen-don for ladies, which I only found at this place in Kanazawa!
Most restaurants in Omicho market are open at 11:00 for lunch and few ones who open ealier will be full with long queue by 11:00.

Kimono Karen着物レンタル-金沢きもの花恋(かれん)|着物de金沢散歩。

I really truly and highly recommend to experince city walking with Kimono!!  It may be hard for those who have never tried Kimono, as it can be tight around waist.  But it can be rent only for few hours and they even provide hair styling and photo shooting options.

Higashi Chaya-gai

Higashi Chaya-gai is one of the must-visit places in Kanazawa with narrow streets lined up with tradditional buildings where you can experience the flavour of old time.  It should be a great idea to have Japanese tea and sweets there.  Just I'm not much into green tea or red bean paste... Instead, I had a glass of beer at Oriental Brewing.

Oriental BrewingOriental Brewing – Kanazawa Craft Beer

They have their original beer brewed by themselves!  Of course they have normal worldwide beer selection as well.


Daikoku Sushi大國鮨 (大国鮨) - 北鉄金沢/寿司 [食べログ]

This cozy sushi restaurant is located just outside of Omicho market.  It's run by an old Japanese gentleman who practiced at a sushi restaurant in Ginza (unfortunately the Ginza restaurant doesn't exist any more...).  I ordered Omakase course for 3000 yen consisted with 10 nigiris and 1 temaki, and of course sake, Fukumasamune!

3rd day:

Kanazawa jo castle金沢城公園

Kanazawa jo castle is used to belong to Maeda family who were ruling Kaga han (Kanazawa, today).  Unfortunately, many of the building there are reproductions.  But Ishikawa gate, Sanju-sangen-nagaya and Tsurumaru warehouse are protected as national important cultural properties.

Kenroku-en garden文化財指定庭園 特別名勝 兼六園

The garden and the castle are located side by side.  It was kind of freezing, as it was in December but it would be great in Spring, the time of cherry blossoms!  There were many young girls with Kimono walking around the garden, which definitely is picturesque.

Nagamachi Buke Yashiki ato - 長町武家屋敷跡:金沢観光情報 【 きまっし金沢 】

The street is located about 500m away from the hotel I stayed.  As it's in Winter, the walls are all covered by straw shield that is to protect the walls from getting damaged by rain and snow falls, as the walls are made by clay.  There're also some famous Japanese sweets shops but in fact, everything can be found at souvenir shops at the station.  Don't have to rush getting "omiyage" here :).

Wrap up:

Things you must experience in Kanazawa:

  1. Golden softcream
  2. Walking around the city with Kimono
  3. Sushi, sushi, sushi!!!
  4. Sake, definitely!
  5. Enjoy the old city of Kaga, the 1 million city!