Published: December 24, 2010
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Adjacent to the garden is the imperial Kanazawa Castle, the former home of the Maeda clan, who ruled the area for nearly 300 years. The original castle was built in the 16th century, but through the years, fires repeatedly destroyed it, so it has been rebuilt several times. The most recent renovations include the re-installment of the castle moat, and this past spring, the reconstructed front gate and rear turret.
Although the castle is impressive, visitors can get an authentic peek into feudal Japan in the Higashi Chaya District, one of only three culturally designated chaya, or entertainment, districts in the country. The area’s narrow streets are lined with two-story wooden teahouses, where geisha once entertained wealthy, sake-drinking clients. At one carefully preserved Edo-era chaya house, the museumlike Shima, visitors can sip tea and explore tatami-matted rooms where some of the geisha performances took place.
For a glimpse into a world filled with a different sort of intrigue, the Myoryuji Temple, commonly called the Ninja Temple, is unparalleled. Though the tour guides insist there is no connection to furtive masked men, the 23-room temple has all the trappings you would expect from a ninja hideout — hidden passageways, pitfalls, trap doors, optical illusions. Even the external structure is deceiving: what appears to be a two-story temple actually includes four stories with seven internal levels, part of an elaborately layered maze.
This emphasis on refinement and complexity can be found in Kanazawa’s food scene, which centers around elaborate meals that rival any kaiseki in Kyoto, and boisterous izakayas, or gastropubs, serving endless cups of local sake and plates of fresh vegetables from the nearby Kaga plains. But the one dining experience that nearly every local recommends is kaiten, or conveyor-belt, sushi.
“Kaiten sushi started here,” said Ms. Morita from the tourist office, explaining that the company that manufactures the miniature conveyor belts, which wind along a sushi bar transporting tiny plates to hungry diners, is based in Kanazawa. And since the nearby Sea of Japan supplies the city with fresh, locally caught seafood year-round, the bounty, like the Kenrokuen Garden, can be enjoyed in any season.
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