Things to Do (and Eat) in Kanazawa, Japan

I will post reviews of dinners I had in Kanazawa later, but for now, here are some things to do in the city, and quicker places to eat.

Kanazawa has a population of about 500,000 and can be reached from Tokyo by bullet train. It was fairly recently that the train was connected to Kanazawa (2015), and this has resulted in growth in the number of tourists. Certain parts of the city can seem extremely touristy as a result. However, if this is not your first time to visit Japan, and you are looking for other places to go other than the usual (Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo etc), then Kanazawa could be a good 2 day option.

Where to Stay

I stayed at the Hyatt Centric which is conveniently located right across the street from the train station. The hotel itself was good. Service was quick and rooms were nice and clean.

Right beside the hotel (almost attached) is a food court and a grocery store (Kaji Mart) where I bought a lot of Japanese snacks and breakfast for the morning:

Also, in the train station, there are a ton of food options as well as shopping. The hotel also has a really good tonkatsu sando and fries which I recommend. It also has really good local coffee which they take pride in making and serving (in a wine glass!).

Day 1

Omicho Market

This is walking distance from the hotel and although it is visited by a lot of tourists, I still think its worth visiting if you want to buy some local food. The first place we ate at was a noodle shop where I had the ramen. It was not the best, but still satisfying. I really wanted ramen but was limited in choice because a lot of the places with higher ratings were closed or too far to walk. The name of this place is in Japanese: 百万石うどん 近江町店 but maybe the address can help: 23 Shimoomicho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0904, Japan.

I also bought some strawberries from one of the vendors which looked amazing but were just ok:

Another thing I tried in the market was the pressed sushi at Sjuraku. It was just OK:

The first thing I ate in the city which I really enjoyed was the Kanazawa pudding at 金澤ぷりん近江町市場 (18 Shimoomicho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0904, Japan). The Kanazawa coffee they had was also very good. Aside from the pudding, they have a bunch of local snacks you can purchase. The Kanazawa pudding cookies are very good.

After the market, we walked to the old part of the city called Higashi Chaya. This part is like a mini Kyoto with traditional houses, and lots of stores and places to eat. On the way, I recommend you stop at Hun + GO Cafe and have the Noto Milk ice cream. You can choose 2 flavors. The milk and matcha was amazing. It was so good, I also went back the next day. On the first day, I got one with gold leaf. Kanazawa is famous for its production of gold leaf and it is popular on ice cream. Its more of a gimmick as it is flavorless. Its worth doing once. I also tried some of the gold leaf beauty products like the face and eye masks. These too are more of a gimmick and I find, don’t work very well.

Here is a look at some of the types of houses in the old area. Very touristy, but worth strolling around.

Also in this area is an elevated part where you can hike up and get a good view of the city. At the top there is the Hosenji Temple & Edge of Korai-Machi Ryokuchi Park.

As we made our way down the hill and back to Higashi Chaya, we stopped at a cafe (Sabo Soshin) for some green tea. The cold hojicha (roasted tea) was especially good.

After this we went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. I will post about that later.

Day 2

Kenroku-en (Japanese Garden) – This garden and the castle are located across from each other at Castle Park. This garden is rated one of the 3 most beautiful in Japan. I found it was nice, but not a must see.

One very good thing it did have was a very good ice cream and tea shop just outside the exit called Touzan.

Kanazawa Castle – Next, we headed to Kanazawa castle. While the outside was nice, the inside is not worth seeing. There is no furniture like in the castles of Europe and you will just basically wander around an empty building.

As we walked towards the samurai area of the city called the Nagamachi District, we stopped at a Japanese curry restaurant for lunch. Here is the Google listing:

I had the omurice and curry which was pretty good. Omurice is basically an omlette and it was served with rice and curry.

Nomura-ke Samurai House – This consisted of a house and beautiful garden.

It was cool to see but you can skip it if you don’t want to pay the admission or are short on time. Its not amazing.

Nagamachi District – This part of the city is worth a stroll around, and like the old part, has a lot of stores and places to eat, but on a smaller scale.

After dinner, we headed to a newer part of town with a concentration of bars. I was not even aware this place existed, but if you are looking for something to do at night, I recommend this area southwest of Castle Park (I believe its called Katamachi). The first bar we went to made some pretty unique cocktails and was called Furansu Cocktail Bar.

After that, we walked around and there were a lot of people out and lots of nightlife venues. There was also this cool street where all the signs were in black and white:

Here, I found a nice dive bar called Fullmoon Cafe:

…and there you have it. Some things to do on a 2 day trip to Kanazawa.

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