Here’s a quick one, I was on the train to a city I’d heard good things about, Kanazawa. From the train station I walked 7-8 minutes to my guesthouse, dropped off the big back, then stopped in a small coffeeshop that specializes in drip coffee of a couple of types of beans - I had the Ethiopian - and went on my way. There’s a big castle, park, and series of gardens set right smack dab in the center of town, so sounds like a good place to start. I could (and do) walk around Japanese cities all day.
So obviously it’s very nice walking through the gardens, but there’s also a bunch of smaller museums around, so I picked one of the art museums and killed some time looking at some of the ancient artifacts and scrolls etc. Then I found my way to the downtown area and got in some nice photos of the sky when the sun was going down. Although I ran out of time for the Samurai district, doh!
One of the museums
the main strip
Adjacent to main strip downtown is a little pub street, although I don’t know if you’d call them pubs, more like tiny bars. But having these alleyways with all the tiny bars and restaurants is just one of the absolute coolest things about Japan. It’s cheap and easy to get a liquor license and I guess the costs aren’t that crazy to rent out such a small space. Walking into locally owned 7-8 seat bars (or food joints) all with their own set-up and vibes, is just something that’s almost unimaginable in the US. Although it was kinda early in the evening for anything much to be going on in them when I walked by.
just a random building I liked
Geisha district at night, nobody around
Of course I got back into the guesthouse, but no one was really around and it was another very chill night in Japan. The next morning I had the contemporary art museum on the menu, which I got there early for, because I guess it’s popular. Although their most famous exhibit you had to buy a pass for in advance, so I was out of luck. Weak. It really wasn’t my favorite museum. Alas.
It was raining outside, but I still wanted to get to the traditional Edo-era section of town, also called the Geisha district. And of course like always it’s gorgeous, lots of shops to stop in for cute gifts and snacks and desserts, and girls walking around in their kimonos to get their photos taken. The place looked especially photogenic in the rain with all the umbrellas out. I really don’t mind this occasional drizzle in Japan!
And that was my quick stop in Kanazawa! Soon I was back on the bullet train to Kyoto. Although I was annoyed I didn’t see the Samurai District, hmmph. This should have been a two-nighter, plenty of stuff to do in Kanazawa!