It's spring in Japan!

Apart from Tokyo, one of the most beautiful places to go for cherry blossoms viewing (in japanese: 花見) is Kanazawa. Where exactly is it and what's it like there?

So where is Kanazawa?

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa prefecture, located in Chubu region (Chubu in english is Central Japan). It is along the sea of Japan so if you're craving for seafoods, I'd suggest you to go to this place.

Aside from seafoods, this place is also famous for its cherry blossoms, its historical attractions, its gold leaf and its garden (will create a separate post about it). Yes, you read it right - gold leaf! I tried eating it on an ice cream (sadly I don't have a photo) and it taste like ..well, good. You can read more about it here on the official website of Kanazawa.

How to get there?

Osaka to Kanazawa is just 2.5hrs by Thunderbird Limited Express Train, or 5.5hrs by bus.

If you're coming from Tokyo, you can take the shinkansen (新幹線, in english: bullet train), and after 2.5-3hrs, you'll be welcomed by the vibrant city of Kanazawa. The bus from Tokyo usually takes 8hrs.

Taking the bus is cheaper so if you're planning to take this, go for the night bus from Osaka/Tokyo.

Walking Around The City

The Market

We started the day going to Omicho Ichiba to have breakfast before we start our long day tour. Ichiba is the japanese term for market.

The Castle

After a quick breakfast and roaming around the market, we finally began our journey! The tourist attractions are actually just a walking distance, or a bus away.

The castle park was so wide! It was so spacious and so clean. I wonder how they're able to maintain such cleanliness in this huge space?

It was still early (and hot!) so we went further inside the castle.

Next to Kanazawa Castle park is actually one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, Kenrokuen. I will create a separate post about it because it's really beautiful.

We exited to another gate and voila! The view was so incredible! These were my favorite captures from this trip.

The Entertainment District

After lunch time, we went to Higashi Chaya District (東茶屋街, Higashi Chayagai) for some delight. Chaya (in english, teahouse) is actually a restaurant where a geisha performs. This geisha district is so well-preserved just like that of Kyoto. If you're not sure what a geisha is, you can read this in Wikipedia. Sadly, we didn't catch the geisha performance for the public when we went there (or was there even one?).

Lost in More of Kanazawa

We continued our journey and stumble upon some magnificent areas. (Actually, we kept on walking we forgot where we were already)

Late afternoon when we decided to go back to the castle park to have 花見 (read as hanami, means flower viewing) until dark. Many others were also laying down their mats and even had some entertainment - music, cards, alcohol.

The Illumination

Night time came and the most awaited illumination started!

The cherry blossoms illumination was located around the castle. Many people go to Kanazawa to witness the amazing illumination. My phone could not even give justice to the beauty of it.

The river reflected the cherry blossoms, how nice is that!

Time To Head Home

Around 8pm, we started going back to the station to take the night bus home. It's such a tiring day but the view and the vibrant city of Kanazawa washed away the exhaustion we felt. We would definitely go back again if given the chance.

Thank you for reading!
See you around!

All photos in this post are taken using my phone and edited by me. Pre-pandemic days.