Sightseeing in Kanazawa

November 10, 2025. From the itinerary - experience Kanazawa's captivating history and beauty on a personalized full-day tour with your private guide. Travel like a local using publlic transportation, with all entrance fees and transport costs thoughtfully included. From 9-5 you'll explore the refined elegance of Seisonkaku Villa, wander through the stunning landscapes of Kenrokuen garden, delve into the historical grandeur of Kanazawa Castle and immerce yourself in the atmospheric Nagamachi Samurai District.

Weather - rainy and windy.

Breakfast was a Japanese set box which included the now “standard” fare:  dried fish, pickles, sashimi, rice, miso, etc.  My favorite from the box: sashimi and miso

After breakfast I met Hiro, my tour guide for the next 2 days.  Hiro’s background - she is 61 and married with 3 daughters, one of which works as a psychiatrist on a remote Japanese island for a tour of 2 months.  She told me that doctors are assigned their specialty when they are in school and this way the doctors there are are not grouped only in the most lucrative specialties.  She had an arranged marriage which worked for 40 years.  She worked as an English teacher for many years and finally decided to take the tour operator exam when the standards were eased in 2010.  She said she never has the same person for 2 full days of tours, so suspect I’m staying too long here.

We started by taking the bus to see the gold leaf museum.  Kanazawa now produces 100% of the gold leaf in Japan.  The museum had a video showing the process of making the gold leaf - it appears one of the secrets is the traditional paper used to separate the gold as it is pounded.

There was an exhibit which included bathrooms - the lady’s was lined with gold leaf and the men’s was lined with platinum leaf.  They cost a huge sum to construct.

Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to buy this bunny. A local owner covered his warehouse with gold leaf as a publicity stunt, but it didn't bring the customer traffic he was hopping for.

Afterwards we walked down one of the two Geisha quarters. 

Kanazawa now is home to 35 active Geisha, the oldest is in her 90s, so there is no retirement age amongst Geisha.  We actually saw one leaving the school. No one else seemed to notice her.... 

Becoming Geisha is not exactly as it was depicted in “Memories of a Geisha”.  Now in Kanazawa girls can apply to study Geisha and, if chosen, they can even choose to marry later on.  In Kyoto the girls must retire if they want to marry.  Kyoto has over 200 active Geisha.  In olden times the girls might have been sold into Geisha by their parents and would be at the mercy of the house mistress (similar to Memories of a Geisha).  Geisha parties are still possible to reserve and cost about $1000 for a 90 minute session.  The parties involve drinking and watching the Geisha perform:  dance, instruments, and/or singing.  Here's a short video showing the inside of a geisha house.

There were more than a few tourists dressed in traditional garb which was not so unusual, according to Hiro.  

The geisha quarters were not too far from the main streets because the trader classes were the only ones that could afford Geisha services.  Samurai and priests were not allowed to indulge.  Conveniently, the geisha quarters were located near temples…

I wasn’t going to eat lunch, but Hiro said there was a fluffy pancake place nearby and I had to try it after the vegan debacle.  These were amazingly good.  Some even came with gold leaf.

From there we went to the Ohi Pottery factory and gallery.  This pottery is uses the Raku method - it is made by hand without using a potters wheel.  These bowls were/are used specifically in the tea ceremonies and have been for over 350 years.  This establishment has been in the family for now 12 generations and we met the 11th generation just outside the exhibition hall.  He was a nice looking man wearing a very expensive light blue silk suit.  He said he had special rain detection because he was bald, so he had a bit of a sense of humor too.  Up to the 10th generation lived in an old Samurai house connected to the gallery.  This garden has 500 year old red pine tree. No photos because the pottery wasn't really that photogenic. Here's an example:

Each year at this time gardeners start to assemble “teepees” around/above trees and bushes used to protect the plants and their limbs from the heavy snows to come shortly. (Tree on the left is the 500 year old tree referenced above)

In one part of the exhibition they had photos of the 11th generation and 10th generation receiving recognition by  the last emperor and the emperor’s father (when he was emperor).  (no photos because I couldn't get a good shot)

Next was over to a bakery that had special sweets, similar to mochi.  I got one with a chestnut/bean paste center, and three other smaller ones with simple bean paste centers.  I was told I had to eat all of them today, or they would get too hard.  By the time I finished eating them this evening I was too full for dinner.

The Samurai quarter was the next stop where we saw re-builds of the original quarter.  After the Meiji Period began and the Samurai were disbanded, they sold much of their holdings and most of their houses were either torn down and converted to agricultural fields or left as ruins.  Only recently were these fields reclaimed and houses re-built.  We were able to see the outside of one original house and the inside of the Nomura-Family samurai house.  This was one of the refurbished original - the beams were original, but the walls were re-built.  The garden was the original and over 200 years old.  The koi in the pond were enormous.

The final stop was a Meiji era tomb near the castle (a stop on tomorrow’s itinerary).  It was a hodgepodge of styles including western (stained glass), Chinese, and Shinto.  Nearby was another temple with it’s original garden

Tonight’s dinner (back at the hotel) included sukiyaki (which I don’t care for, so didn’t eat) and tempura which I did like and ate.  Also included was vinegar marinated eel, which I rather enjoyed.  I was offered an extra course of puffer fish and eel which I turned down. Dessert was chestnut pudding which was quite good.