Take a holiday in Kanazawa, Japan

Kanazawa is one often overlooked tourist destination in Japan. Although Japanese tourist know to appreciate it, foreign tourists often not even have heard the name. It is in a remote location, in an off-beat track, but most tourists believe that it is worth the long journey, after visiting it. It is remote, but this only contributes to being more exotic.

Remember that this city was not heavily destructed during the war, so it is perhaps one of the best conserved cities in Japan of the Edo period. Another similar alternative is Takayama, that it’s equally impressive. It has a broad offer of temples and shrines. However, it has something more. This was some centuries ago hot spot for samurais, geishas, land lords and merchants. This city has been a trading place since many centuries and its buildings reflect this history.

If you come by train, you’ll see the symbiosis of Japanese old and new styles. The train station is a futuristic building integrated within a wooden temple of glass and steel. But, of course, although the train station is impressive, there are other tourists sights that are much more magnetic.

The first must-see place is perhaps the Kenroku-en Garden. It is with no doubt the most well-known sight in Kanazawa. Its name means the Garden of Six Attributes. It is considered one of Japan’s Top gardens. It was once the pleasure gardens of the Maeda Lords, many centuries ago. It has been expanded to occupy the entire block.

It has not been built until the end of the Edo Shogunate, and due to the fact, that it has been a long building project, it reflect the architecture of many styles and periods of time. Water is piped from some kilometres to fill its ponds. After that the same water fills the castle moats. It is definitely a great engineering feat of an ancient period.

Another impressive sight is the Kanazawa Castle. Castles are impressive no matter where you go. Within this castle, you could find the national university some years ago, however, this was for many centuries the place of the Imperial Army. Currently, the castle is a public space, and might be visited for free by anyone. It has a long history of more than 400 years.

Starting with the Ishikawa Gate, that’s name like the district of Ishikawa downtown. It is quite uncommon to find an original, century old gate in Japan. In this case, it is still used as gate. Some parts of the palace are only open upon payment of an entry fee that mostly goes to the budget of the restoration. The amazing thing about this castle is that it is constantly being restored. Its huge size implies that there is always a place that needs to be renewed. That, however, doesn’t imply that the castle is closed to the public.

One of the most magnetic, due to its high symbolical nature, is perhaps the Nagamachi Samurai District. This area is the traditional spot, where samurais actually lived, trained and were instructed. Efforts have been made to recreate the historical feel of this district, however, many critical tourist may find it too commercial. Samurai fans will be definitely disappointed.