This time, I'd like to share my experience of a 10-day workation in Ishikawa Prefecture!

I based myself in central Kanazawa, working from an Airbnb during weekday afternoons. On my days off I drove out to Shirakawa-go, and later took time to explore the Noto Peninsula and Wakura Onsen.

This article covers Kanazawa's sightseeing spots and recommended restaurants. For Shirakawa-go, the Noto Peninsula, and Kaga Onsen, please see this companion article.

These places truly moved me, so I hope you enjoy imagining the scenery as you read.

Background

• I spent a total of 10 days on this workation, working from an Airbnb in Kanazawa during the weekdays.
• This article focuses on sightseeing spots and recommended restaurants within Kanazawa city. For Shirakawa-go and the Noto Peninsula (Wakura Onsen Kagaya) that I visited on weekends and days off, please see the companion article.
• I visited in January 2023, before the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. It was such a wonderful place, so I sincerely hope for the earliest possible recovery for those affected by the disaster. Some places may have changed since my visit, so please keep this in mind while reading.

Schedule

• Days 1-7
  • Kanazawa @ Airbnb
    • Kanazawa Castle
    • Kenrokuen Garden
    • Omicho Market
    • Higashi Chaya District
    • Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism and Products Center (Wagashi Handmaking Experience)
    • 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
    • Ishikawa Prefectural Noh Theater

Kanazawa Tourist Attractions

Kanazawa Castle

Kanazawa Castle stands in the middle of the city, surrounded by remarkably tall and impressive stone walls. I've seen castles all over the country, but it's rare to find one built on flat land with stone walls this high, where only the upper, limited areas are accessible.

Kanazawa Castle is also a particularly fascinating place where you can see the castle's defensive mechanisms up close, with thorough explanations provided.

There are primitive but effective features like "ishiotoshi" (stone drops) used to halt enemies by dropping stones on them, "kakushi hazama" (hidden loopholes) and "teppō hazama" (gun ports)—holes in the walls designed to fire guns while remaining concealed from the enemy. If you look carefully, you can discover all sorts of interesting mechanisms.

There are also videos showing the restoration work, so you can see how parts of the buildings were constructed.

The area around Kanazawa Castle is also wonderfully romantic for an evening stroll.

Some parts are lit up at night, and the contrast between the white of the castle and the black of the darkness is magnificent, so I highly recommend going right up to it!

The official website for Kanazawa Castle is here

Kenrokuen Garden

Kenrokuen Garden is truly one of Japan's finest Japanese gardens.

In Kanazawa, they set up "yukitsuri" (snow supports) in winter to prevent the trees from being damaged by the weight of snow, so I recommend visiting during the season when the yukitsuri are in place.

The garden is quite expansive, so there's plenty to explore on foot.

The Kenrokuen Garden homepage is here

Omicho Market

This market has long flourished as the kitchen of Kanazawa's residents.

Here, seasonal seafood and other fresh items are lined up in abundance.

There are also plenty of famous sushi restaurants and eateries, so I recommend having lunch here!

My recommendation, which I'll also mention below, is Daikoku Sushi (Japanese: 大國寿司) inside Omicho Market!

Higashi Chaya District

Higashi Chaya District is a teahouse district that flourished in the late Edo period, and many of the old buildings still remain today. It's a delightful street with cafes, restaurants, and souvenir shops to browse.

You can rent kimono nearby, so walking through Higashi Chaya District in kimono is also very popular.

This is also a place where there are still teahouses with geiko (geisha), but generally they don't accept first-time customers. However, it seems that sometimes they offer experience plans for tourists, so if you're interested, please look into it.

I was interested and thought I might hear the sounds of people enjoying themselves at the teahouses, so I took a walk through Higashi Chaya District late at night, but I didn't hear any such sounds (laughs). Higashi Chaya District at night is a bit quiet, but it's also a fantastically lovely place.

At Higashi Chaya District, I purchased Hodatsu kudzu kuzukiri that was purveyed to the Kaga Domain✨

Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism and Products Center (Wagashi Hands-On Experience)

When I travel, I always try to experience local traditional activities. For this trip, I chose wagashi making.

An artisan who actually makes wagashi in Kanazawa stands at the front and carefully teaches how to make each sweet, one by one.

Looking at this photo, can you imagine how each sweet is made??

For the actual method, please go experience it yourself and learn!

They look beautiful, but they're truly difficult to make, and I definitely thought this is a master craftsman's skill.

The experience requires a reservation, so please book in advance!

You can make a reservation from ↓

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

When it comes to Kanazawa, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (Japanese: 21世紀美術館) is so popular that you could say everyone who visits goes there. Since I had work on weekdays, this time I went for an evening stroll.

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art has various exhibitions, and they often hold special exhibits as well.

My particular favorite is a work called "Turrell's Room" (Japanese: タレルの部屋).

This room has an opening in the ceiling, and since it was raining that day, rain was falling down from above. Especially because it was evening, the contrast between the surrounding white and the blue of the sunset sky, with the rain falling through it, was incredibly fantastical and beautiful.

I thought it was a wonderful work that shows you a different scene each time you visit.

Ishikawa Prefectural Noh Theater

This is a place where you can see live performances of "Noh," one of Japan's traditional cultural arts. Unfortunately, my schedule didn't work out this time so I couldn't go, but I'd like to coordinate my schedule and visit next time.

This is apparently the first independent public Noh theater in the country.

While it is Japanese culture, even as a Japanese person I've only seen it in textbooks and movies, so I definitely want to go next time.

Nearby is the Kanazawa Noh Museum.

The day I went happened to be a closed day so I couldn't visit, but apparently Noh masks and costumes are on display there.

If you think diving straight into watching Noh is too much of a hurdle, starting here might be a good option!

Kanazawa Recommended Gourmet Restaurants

Kanazawa Recommended Lunch

This sushi restaurant is located just off the main street of Omicho Market, and was recommended to me by locals as a delicious sushi spot.

I had the seasonal nigiri course, and from the very first plate, nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch) appeared, along with Noto oysters, anago (sea eel), and more. It was such a luxurious and extravagant nigiri course that I thought, "Is this really okay for lunch and not a dinner course?" Everything was delicious and I finished it in no time.

It's a wonderful sushi restaurant run by a lovely couple with a true spirit of hospitality, so I definitely want you to try it!

Kanazawa Rich Niboshi Tonkotsu Inoshin (Japanese: 金沢濃厚煮干豚骨 伊乃心)

*Open until morning, so you can go at night too

This is a delicious ramen shop in Kanazawa that a local taxi driver told me about.

It has a gentle, comforting flavor. There are various flavors to choose from, so it's hard to decide ><

It's close to tourist attractions, so it's worth eating here even if you're sightseeing!

Hiramipan (Japanese: ひらみぱん)

A popular bakery in a quiet residential neighborhood.

The interior is very stylish, with rows of delicious-looking bread.

You can eat in at the stylish interior, or take out.

Everything looked so delicious that I couldn't choose and ended up selecting too many, but they were all really delicious!

Kanazawa Terroir (Japanese: 金澤テロワール)

*This restaurant also serves dinner. I wanted to go for dinner too, but this time I went for lunch.

They have a lunch menu and a pasta lunch menu, and it's an exquisite French restaurant that uses seasonal and local ingredients depending on the time.

The pasta was very delicious, and the dessert was also very tasty. I looked at the dinner menu and it seemed like everything was made with great care and looked delicious, so of course lunch is wonderful, but I think dinner would also be a lovely experience!

Gyosai-ya Anto Branch (Japanese: 魚菜屋 あんと店)

A restaurant inside Kanazawa Station where you can have lunch centered on fish and sashimi.

You can enjoy delicious Hokuriku fish at a reasonable price of just over 1,000円, and I recommend it when you want to have a comforting Japanese set meal. They also have seafood bowls and tempura.

I was curious about the yellowtail sashimi that was listed separately from the lunch menu, so I added it.

And of course the set meal was delicious, but the yellowtail I added had just the right amount of fat and melted in my mouth, and I was completely captivated by Hokuriku's winter yellowtail...

I've always liked yellowtail and chose to eat it, but now whenever I go to Hokuriku, I've started frantically searching for yellowtail (lol)

Menya Taiga (Japanese: 麺屋大河)

*This restaurant is also open in the evenings

This is a miso ramen shop located a 5-minute walk from Kanazawa Station.

There's always a line, and it's not the kind of place you can just walk into, but it's delicious and worth the wait.

Whenever I go to Kanazawa, I make sure to visit Menya Taiga, but since there's usually a wait, I recommend going when you have plenty of time!

8ban Ramen (Japanese: 8番ラーメン)

This is a ramen chain that originated in Kanazawa. I ate at the Kanazawa Station location before boarding the shinkansen, but there seem to be shops all over the place.

They're famous for their vegetable ramen, which has a somewhat nostalgic feel to it. I recommend trying it once as a taste of local comfort food. I went with the gyoza set!

Shizenha Ramen Kagura (Japanese: 自然派ラーメン 神楽)

I really wanted to go here this time and made it all the way to the shop, but unfortunately it happened to be their day off, so I couldn't eat there...

But they make incredibly delicious-looking ramen, and they've been selected as one of the Top 100 Ramen Shops, so I'm definitely going next time.

It's a bit far from the main tourist area, so you'll need to take a bus or car to get there from the nearby tourist spots.

Kanazawa Recommended Dinners

Shusui Daigo (Japanese: 酒粋 醍醐)

The entrance is lined with sake bottles, and it's absolutely breathtaking at first sight 🥺✨

The menu features famous sake like Dassai, Juyondai, and Jikon, along with delicious sake from all over the country.

Enjoying delicious sashimi with delicious sake is truly exceptional! If you love sake, you must visit Daigo!

Kaga Cuisine Daimyojaya (Japanese: 加賀料理 大名茶屋)

Daimyojaya is a 5-minute walk from Kanazawa Station, where you can enjoy Kaga cuisine.

It's a bit pricey, but I highly recommend it for those who want to try traditional Kaga cuisine made with Kanazawa ingredients!

In winter, crab is in season, so we grilled it on a shichirin. It's not an exaggeration to say you can experience all of Kaga cuisine here—it's a wonderful restaurant deeply rooted in the local community, so I highly recommend it.

The Kaga Cuisine Daimyojaya homepage is here

Sake and Heartfelt Cuisine Itaru (Japanese: 酒と人情料理 いたる)

This is also an izakaya where you can eat delicious dishes made with ingredients from Ishikawa and the Hokuriku region.

The quality of the food is very high, and everything you order is completely satisfying.

Actually, there are so many delicious things that I can't choose from the menu (laughs).

I recommend it when you want to casually enjoy Kanazawa-style cuisine!

Miyuki (Kanazawa Oden) (Japanese: 三幸)

Miyuki, where you can enjoy oden, is truly delicious, and although I've been to Kanazawa many times, it's a restaurant I always visit.

Even when I can't go to Kanazawa, I sometimes think, "Ah, I want to eat Miyuki's oden"—that's how delicious it is.

This time too, I ordered so much that the staff asked, "Can you really eat all of this?" (laughs).

I understand the excitement when everything looks so delicious, but oden isn't going anywhere, so I recommend ordering an amount you can eat while it's still hot.

The crab oden "kani-men" that's only available in winter is truly exquisite and unforgettable, so if you're going to Kanazawa during the season when kani-men is available, you absolutely must try it.

Also, the potato fries are delicious.

LEON

The most moving experience of this trip was at an Italian restaurant called LEON, which is housed in a renovated traditional house.

The atmosphere inside was wonderful, and I had ordered a course, but every dish that came out was so delicious that I went through the course twice.

The assorted ham platter was delicious, and above all, the thin-crust pizza was so incredibly delicious that it ranks among the best pizzas I've ever had.

The wine pairing was also very delicious, and it was a memorable restaurant that made me vow to return to Kanazawa just for LEON.

I don't think this emotion can be conveyed without experiencing it yourself, so please visit the restaurant.

Reflections on My 10-Day Workation in Kanazawa, Ishikawa

Winter in Kanazawa (the Hokuriku region) is characterized by very few sunny days, with rain, snow, and hail, along with piercing winds that make it extremely cold, so I strongly recommend going well-prepared with warm clothing.

While Kanazawa city itself apparently doesn't get much accumulating snow in recent years, the weather is often poor, so I recommend waterproof shoes and solid cold-weather protection.

Even with Heattech extra warm tights and jeans, the cold was painfully piercing, like needles stabbing my legs.

The cold and frequent hail were quite difficult for me to endure, which made me realize how incredible the people of Ishikawa are for weathering such long, harsh winters.

On the other hand, winter brings incredibly delicious ingredients like Kanazawa oden, winter yellowtail, and crab, which is why I actually prefer visiting in winter!

With such abundant ingredients and so many skilled chefs who know how to bring out their best, I truly think of it as a culinary treasure trove.

Whether you take your time sightseeing around Kanazawa Station or actively venture out to surrounding areas, there are so many ways to enjoy yourself no matter how many times you visit.

I hear kayaking in summer is also fun.

And as you've seen, Ishikawa Prefecture has so many traditions, cultural practices, and historical structures still preserved.

What's more, the people of Ishikawa Prefecture take great pride in these things and carefully protect them—something I could feel in many different situations when I actually visited.

Having so much culture to be so deeply proud of is truly enviable, and it made me feel strongly that even those of us who don't live in Ishikawa should learn more about it and take pride in it as Japanese people.

Even after 10 days, I feel there are still many new discoveries to be made, so I plan to visit again.

I hope you'll all visit Ishikawa and Kanazawa, where Japan's traditional culture remains so vibrant!

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※Business hours and rules for locations and shops may have changed. Please be sure to check the latest information yourself.

※These are purely my personal impressions, so please use them as reference only.