Trip to Kanazawa

I went on a trip with my friend to Kanazawa city in Ishikawa prefecture, which is west of Tokyo and on the coast of the Sea of Japan. We took the night bus there, around a 7 hour ride. This is a cheaper alternative than taking the train and since it's at night, you can sleep most of the ride. After arriving in the morning, we walked from Kanazawa Station to Kanazawa Castle Park. It was a nice place to walk around and there were gardens, castle buildings, and gates. Many parts of the castle burned down and were rebuilt several times; there was construction going on in some areas still.

Right next door is Kenrokuen Garden, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. It had a couple of ponds, many walking paths and trees. There was also a tea house and I got to try matcha and wagashi. We had lunch at a restaurant nearby and I got jibuni, an Ishikawa specialty simmered dish. It was also topped with gold, as Kanazawa is a well-known gold leaf producer. Afterwards we had ice cream that was topped with gold and silver leaf.

In the afternoon, we walked around Higashi Chaya, which was a historic tea house and geisha district. There were many traditional wooden buildings there and it was full of shops, restaurants, and cafes. We had an early dinner there and ate kaisen-don (seafood rice bowl, a must have in Kanazawa due to its proximity to the Sea of Japan).

The next day we visited the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, which had a pool exhibit you could go in. We also walked around the Oyama Shrine and Nagamachi Samurai District. In the evening we went back to Kanazawa Castle, which was lit up. Then we went back to the station to catch the night bus back to Tokyo.