Ireland day 1325. Thursday 15 May 2025- Kanazawa 1

Today’s summary	Spent the day exploring Kanazawa on foot from our ryokan. Visited Omicho Market, Oyama Shrine, Kanazawa Castle, and Kenrokuen Garden. Returned to the ryoken about 4pm then had welcome matcha tea, followed by a hot bath and traditional Japanese dinner. Surprisingly tiring but very rewarding.
Today’s weather	Dry sunny and warm all day. Light westerly breeze. Appx 25c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Kanazawa Explorer

Commentary

Today was our first full day in Kanazawa. It’s pretty busy with visitors, though a little further off the beaten track than the bigger cities like Tokyo and Kyoto so not quite as touristy. We had been advised by friends who came last year that it was definitely worth visiting for the castle, museums, art galleries, temples and narrow old streets. So there was quite a lot we wanted to pack in once we set out this morning.

Like yesterday, we started with a gigantic fish-oriented breakfast at 7:30 this morning. I’m sure it must have been healthy and nutritious because neither of us felt particularly hungry until dinner time came around, eleven hours later.

We set off on our explorations at about 10 am and it was nice, for a change, to be able to do everything on foot straight from our ryokan. No Suica cards needed today!

Our first destination was the network of old streets and tiny shops which comprise the old town. Actually we are staying on the edge of this area, so just a few steps down the road took us straight there. We had quick look at the buildings and shops, restricting our shopping to the window variety only, then passed on, over the river to the Omicho Market.

There’s a huge variety of goods for sale in the market, though with a heavy emphasis on fish, and on fruit and vegetables. We enjoyed looking round, and it seemed much more like an authentic working market than, say Granville in Vancouver, or Borough in London.

From the market a short walk down the road took us straight to the Oyama Shrine. It was a tranquil spot, with a neatly manicured traditional garden. We found a shady spot and enjoyed some Aquarius (an isotonic drink) and also a snack I had bought thinking it was candied fruit, but which turned out actually to be sugar coated beans. Unusual.

After a walk through the gardens, we crossed over a busy road and into the nearby Kanazawa castle. From the bridge over the road, there was a stunning view of the distant snow covered mountains to the south. More detailed research revealed that they were actually the Hakusan range, rather than the Japan Alps as I had previously thought.

The once we got there, we found the castle grounds to be extensive but only a small part of the castle itself still exists. Being a wooden construction, it has been burned down at least five times in the 500 years since it was first constructed. The but that you see now is a 21st century reconstruction, but work is currently underway to reconstruct a lot more. We took ourselves on a whirlwind round the bit that was open to the public and admired the beautiful wooden construction. It’s supposedly built without nails, though I think I did spot some holding the floorboards down.

Directly opposite the castle is the Kenrokuen garden, which was our next port of call. It’s one of the three most beautiful in Japan and it is indeed lovely. It’s meticulously maintained, and even while we were there, armies of gardeners were hard at work, often beetling about on all-fours, manicuring the lawns, flower beds and trees.

We spent a good hour in the garden then rounded off our day with a short walk over the river and back to our ryokan. No sooner were we ensconced in our room, than one of the staff appeared to serve us matcha tea and Japanese sweet cakes. A great pick-me-up after a hard’s days sightseeing, and an excellent appetiser for dinner.

Like last night, dinner was an eight course affair, largely based on fish, rice and soup. It was all very good, though for me the highlight had to be the orange jelly at the end!

Now finally dinner is finished, and it’s time to put our feet up and enjoy one of the beers we bought at the supermarket while we were out and about. A great way to round off another great day.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Traditional breakfast this morning. And this was just the starter!	Omicho Market – a huge variety of things on sale, but mostly fruit and vegetables, and fish

The Oyama Shrine	You cross a road, look up and suddenly.. a snow covered mountain range springs into view. I think this is Mt Hakusan – one of Japan’s three most revered peaks. It’s 2702m (8865ft) high and about 50 km to the southeast of here

Gold leaf covered icecream – a speciality of Kanazawa – and delicious for lunch today	In the Kenrokuen Garden

Back at the ryokan again, and ready for a beer, a bath and dinner!