Kanazawa
Category
G
Higashi Chaya in the rain, which is how this city usually looks and all the better for it.
Kanazawa was rich for three hundred years and never fought a war, which is an unusual combination and explains almost everything lovely about it. The Maeda lords were the wealthiest feudal family in Japan after the shoguns, and they channelled that money into craft and culture rather than military display – gold leaf, lacquer, silk dyeing, Noh theatre, and a garden they spent two centuries quietly perfecting.
It was also spared the bombing, so the geisha quarters and the samurai streets are the originals rather than reconstructions. And it sits on the Sea of Japan with cold deep water just offshore, which means the fish market is genuinely one of the best in the country.
Since the bullet train arrived in 2015 it has been two and a half hours from Tokyo, and it is the single best argument I know against spending a third day in Kyoto.
You’ve reached the quiet door.
FOR MEMBERS ONLY.
Behind it: the full reviews, the complete guides, every route story we’ve written. Subscribe today, and continue reading this article and more.
Already a member? Sign in
Curious about Membership?
Stay a while and read it all.