WEDNESDAY 2 APRIL 2025

Three nights in Kanazawa allowed enough time to walk around the city, visit must see spots and eat plentiful and local delicacies. I would go back again to Kanazawa, with its rounded focus on architecture, art and craft, and food, there’s a lot to see.


I went to Kanazawa in February 2024, a month after the devastating earthquake off the Noto Peninsula. Although, Kanazawa did not suffer as badly as some other areas, there was noticeable damage to structures and a few sights and museums were shut for closer safety inspections. The community itself, first and foremost was largely impacted, there was an urge for expecting visitors to not cancel their plans. The general gist was to continue as planned, to endure, rebuild and move on stronger, together.

When in Kanazawa, look out for beautiful architecture, local art and handicraft here and there in unassuming places, revel in crab dishes especially when visiting in winter, visit one or two cafes, try ofu (wheat gluten), and make sure to stop by a sweets place to eat fruit daifuku.

Tracking notes in Kanazawa:

Thursday, 1 February

• Flight: Tokyo Haneda to Komatsu Airport (1 hour) -> Bus to Kanazawa Station
• Kanazawa is an extremely walkable city, there are several different bus passes you can purchase but we chose to walk.
• Kanazawa Station: the architecture is beautiful.
• Pouring rain when we arrived.
• Pizza for lunch near the station, Pizzeria e Trattoria Da Take. Margarita, quattro fromaggi and prosciutto.
• Oden for dinner at Miyuki. The best daikon of my life, chunky, juicy, firm but tender, cooked in a clear, savoury oden broth, honestly the best oden I’ve ever had. The only qualm I had was that we didn’t make a booking but the owner squeezed us in for a quick dinner, so we had to scoff everything down.

Friday, 2 February

• Breakfast at Hirami Pan: croque monsieur and coffee.
  
• Kanazawa has so many cute cafes.
  
• Walked towards Oyama Shrine, a beautiful shrine with a serene garden.
  
• Kanazawa Castle
  
• Kenrokuen, strolling, strolling, the sky was overcast.
  
• Lunch at a tea house in Kenrokuen
  
• Walked to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, it was closed for safety inspections but it was still pleasant to walk around viewing a few sculptures outdoors.
  
• Visited the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum
  
• Tea and dango at cafe murakami
  
• Dinner at Itaru Honten where we had the most amazing crab, just boiled perfectly with a squeeze of lemon. I still think about it now.
  
• Fruits daifuku back at the hotel from Rinrindo

Saturday, 3 February

• Souffle pancakes at Cafe Tamon in the Higashi Chaya District
  
• Spent the day in this historic neighbourhood browsing handicrafts and eating local food like ofu (wheat gluten).
  
• Crab! for lunch at Kanazawa Sushi.
  
• 3 February is also setsubun so there was a special performance at Utatsu Shrine 
  
• Afternoon tea at Kazu Nakashima, known for their fruit daifuku. Expensive but delicious.
  
• For dinner: Morimori sushi at Kanazawa Forus
  

Sunday, 4 February

• Breakfast at Moron Cafe
  
• Yoshiro and Yoshio Taniguchi Museum of Architecture
  
• Omicho Market lunch (Ochazuke)
  
• Bus to the airport, back to Haneda