Kanazawa: An ancient city with gorgeous traditional culture

Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture is a popular tourist city where traditional culture is still strong, just like Kyoto and Nara. The best place to visit is the Kenrokuen Garden, one of Japan's three major gardens. Other popular attractions include the Chayamachi District with its beautiful traditional townscape and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, which is one of Japan's leading contemporary art museums.

Table of Contents

Photos
Outline of Kanazawa
Kenrokuen Garden
Higashi Chayagai ( Higashi Chaya District)
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Photos

: Photos: Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefecture

There are several places in Japan that have the same traditional streets as Kyoto. A representative example is Kanazawa City (Ishikawa Prefecture) located on the Sea of Japan side of central Honshu. If you go to Chayamachi District in Kanazawa, you can meet even geisha. After strolling through Chayamachi, be sure ...

: Photos: Gold leaf culture in Kanazawa

In Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, the traditional culture of using gold leaf is still alive today. For example, there is the "Kin-tsunagi," in which broken pottery is glued together with lacquer and then decorated with gold leaf. Or the custom of putting gold leaf on food or drink. Let's appreciate the gorgeous ...

Outline of Kanazawa

Where is Kanazawa?

Traffic access

By air

Komatsu Airport → Kanazawa: 40 minutes by limousine bus

Haneda Airport (Tokyo) → Komatsu Airport: 1 hour
Narita Airport (Tokyo) → Komatsu Airport: 1 hours 20 minutes

By train

JR Tokyo Station → JR Kanazawa Station:

About 2 hours 30 minutes by Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train)

JR Osaka Station → JR Kanazawa Station:

About 3 hours by JR Thunderbird Express

JR Kyoto Station → JR Kanazawa Station:

About 2 hours 30 minutes by JR Thunderbird Express

Kenrokuen Garden

Bridge at Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa = Shutterstock

Higashi Chayagai ( Higashi Chaya District)

Higashi Chaya District in the winter = Shutterstock

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

One of most surprising art works among tourists at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa is an optical illusion Leandro Erlich's swimming pool = shutterstock

: 14 Best Museums in Japan! Edo-Tokyo, Samurai, Ghibli Museum...

There are various types of museums in Japan. There are few fulfilling museums like the United States, France, England, but Japanese museums are unique in many types. On this page, I will introduce 14 museums I would like to recommend specifically. Table of ContentsEdo-Tokyo Museum (Tokyo)Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo)Samurai Museum (Tokyo)Ghibli ...

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Bon KUROSAWA I have long worked as a senior editor for Nihon Keizai Shimbun (NIKKEI) and currently work as an independent web writer. At NIKKEI, I was the editor-in-chief of the media on Japanese culture. Let me introduce a lot of fun and interesting things about Japan. Please refer to this article for more details.