Our next stop in Japan was Kanazawa. It's known for well-preserved Edo-era districts, Samurai and the fish market - Omicho Market. It's gaining more popularity amongst tourists but a lot of people pass it by for the major spots. We decided to spend 2 nights here in a traditional machiya house so we had time to take in the sights leisurely.

There was a nice mix of sightseeing and shopping during our 2 days of exploring, but we did way more walking than we planned, read on to find out why, ha ha. On our last night I did a face mask that we got from another hotel we stayed at and turned in early at 8:30pm. We were out of the house by 6:30 the next morning to take the train to Kyoto!

In Kanazawa, we broke our rule of staying near the train station to spend a couple of nights in a traditional Machiya House. The house was located in the central Hikoso-machi area, a former samurai neighborhood. It was a 17-minute walk by the most direct route, but Google Maps kept rerouting us through side streets, making it take longer. While we loved the house (and would still go back,) the walk with all our luggage was a bit of a pain, especially since we were starting to feel the effects of all the walking we’d been doing.

Let's begin the recap!

Where We Stayed

Kurohoro Machiya Holiday House

Upon arrival we had to use a provided phone to call the guest services for the rental company and someone walked over to finish our check-in process. This included our passport information and giving us some information about the house and the rules of staying there. If we needed help during the rest of the trip we could use the same phone to contact them again.

A machiya is a two-story traditional Japanese wooden townhouse that originated around 794 AD. There were so many beautiful details in our machiya but it was also updated to include modern conveniences. One of our favorite parts was the heated floors! They came in very handy when we walked back into the house after being in the rain. Off our shoes came at the entrance and we enjoyed nice toasty feet! The Japanese living room featured a tokonoma alcove (where artwork can be displayed and admired,) and a view of a garden through a 'marumado' round window.

We slept in the Western-style room but if we wanted we could have set up futons in the Japanese room. In the bathroom they had a rainfall shower and Goemon bath. We used that to soak our very tired feed, ha ha. The traditional styling of the house was so beautiful, we enjoyed sitting in the main living room for a quiet afternoon before turning in early on our first night.

Day 9 (Monday)

Where We Went

Travel to Kanazawa

We left from Shibu Onsen around 12pm and arrived at Kanazawa Station just before 3:30 and made it to our machiya house 3:45. It had been threatening to rain most of our walk to the house but didn't really start to sprinkle until later in the evening.

Kanazawa Forus

We walked from the machiya house through Omicho Market but didn't stop because it was almost closing time and a lot of the shops had already closed. By the time we walked through it really started to rain so we broke out the umbrella and headed to the Kanazawa Forus mall because they had a secondhand designer clothing store that I wanted to check for bags.

Omicho Market in the evening

Brand Off

Our first stop in the mall was Brand Off so I could start my hunt for a secondhand designer bag! I was mostly hunting for a unique Chanel/Hermes bag or a Loewe Puzzle bag. There were some fun options here but since it was our first stop and nothing really jumped out at me I passed on buying anything.

Pokémon Center Kanazawa

Next was a spot for Christian (and me) - the Pokémon store! They had a huuuuge wall of little plushies and Christian grabbed a Ho-Oh for himself.

Standard Products + Other Stores

We also took a stroll through Standard Products to see if we could find a souvenir for my minimalist Sister-in-Law. We saw a couple things but nothing really screamed her. There were a couple other home good type stores that we walked through. I almost bought one of the clocks but decided against it.

Where We Ate

We had lunch at the Yudanaka train station in Shibu Onsen before heading to Kanazawa so we just had dinner here.

Uber Eats - Beer Stand Fukuromachi

We had tried to go to a ramen restaurant nearby the forus mall but it was raining, cold and there was a long line out the door. We waited a few minutes and decided to go back to the machiya house, order in a meal and enjoy an evening at the house. We got back at 6:20 and the food arrived by 7:20. Using one of our phones google lens to translate we worked our way through the Uber Eats app to find something quick that would travel well! We ended up ordering from a thai place because it had the fastest delivery and wasn't super expensive, ha ha. We got two bowls and two spring rolls to share. One was Mie Goreng (¥1,600) Indonesian-style fried noodles and the other was Gapao rice (¥1,600) Rice topped with Thai-style fried chicken and basil. The total was $29.69

We had a nice, leisurely evening and went to bed at 9:30. Probably would have slept sooner but we didn't want to sleep so soon after eating.

Day 10 (Tuesday)

We had a slow morning, got up a little before 7:30 and eased our way out of the house at 8:40. We didn't want to do a lot of walking this day so we could reset our feet for Kyoto and Osaka but ended up doing 10 miles, oyyy!

Where We Went

Jukyoji Temple (Komyo-zan/ Jodo Sect)

We took a leisurely walk to one of the historic districts and stumbled upon this temple around 9am. It didn't seem like it was open yet so we just peeked in from the street and enjoyed the views.

Walking Around

Some scenes from the area between our machiya house and the tea district.

Higashi Chaya District

After walking by the temple we headed to the historic tea district full of teahouses where geisha perform. Since we went early in the morning there was barely anyone there so we were able to enjoy the architecture without tons of tourists. This is the largest of the 3 tea districts in Kanazawa. I do wish we were there while the shops were open, but I'll take less crowded streets over spending money. This was all before 9:15am.

Kanazawa Castle & Kenrokuen Garden

Once we walked through the tea district we made our way to Kanazawa Castle stopping for breakfast along the route. By 9:40 we were at the castle! We were there early enough that the staff was still cleaning up and sweeping to prepare for the day. Because it was the middle of the Winter the grounds were pretty bare, but the expanse of the grounds was huge! I imagine it would be great to walk around during warmer months and relaxing in the fresh air. We spent about an hour exploring the grounds and gardens with barely any crowds. We even spotted a school group on a field trip in matching outfits - adorable!

The detail on the buildings, walls and doors was amazing. We could have spent all day taking it in but we wanted to make it to Omicho Market before it got too crowded. So off we went!

Oyama Jinja Shrine

Just outside the Kanazawa Castle grounds is Oyama Jinja Shrine and the Garden of Musical Instruments. There was no one here so we enjoyed walking across the stone bridges and taking in the sights. There was also an adorable gold leaf frog statue. In Japan frogs are symbolic, placing them in your garden or home is believed to ensure safety and bring loved ones back safely from their travels.

Omicho Market

On our way to the market we happened upon another shrine with a torii gate entrance. You never know what you'll find around the corner in Japan!

We arrived at the entrance of Omicho Market at 11:02am and it was time to hunt for snacks! I'll talk more about this below when I go over what we ate, but the market is very fun. Omicho Market is the largest fresh food market in Kanazawa and has been since the Edo Period (1603-1868.) They have everything from fresh seafood and grilled eel to expensive fruits and desserts. There aren't many places to sit and eat your treats so keep that in mind. Some vendors will only take cash while others you can use credit cards and transit cards. We left a little before 12.

Nagamachi Samurai District

After our snacks we walked to the historic samurai district to check out the old buildings. This area (once again) goes back to the Edo Period. Samurai of the Maeda clan—the rulers of Kanazawa and the old Kaga Domain—lived here with their families. Walking by the houses was all we needed to do to enjoy the area. There are a few museums and houses you can go into but we opted to just walk around. We did check out the information center and picked up a brochure but other than that we walked around aimlessly.

Brand Off

After this came our fatal mistake. We decided to take a bus to the main Kanazawa Brand Off store. We intended to take a bus back or uber but our first ride on the bus made us a little nervous and for the way home we were going to have to transfer and our brains just did not have the power to figure that out. When we got on the bus at 1:10-ish at the Naga-machi stop the driver could tell we didn't know what we were doing. Google told us to use our suica cards when we got on the bus but he said no and asked where we were going so I showed him our Google directions and he sent us to sit. He had nodded that we had the right stop marked and to pay when we get off, in cash. Luckily we had enough! The buses also won't stop until someone tells them or people are waiting at the stop so we started getting very nervous wondering what to do when our stop came. Since the driver knew what our stop was he motioned to us ahead of time so we knew it was time to get off. Thank goodness!

We made it to the store just before 1:30. Unfortunately the Brand Off was WAY smaller than we thought. It looked like it was multiple stories based on the photo but it was pretty small. It wasn't even the full first floor. There were a couple nice bag options but again, nothing that I loved or was in my budget. Let's be real, I would have loved a Birkin, but they were still very expensive, ha ha.

Once I finished shopping we decided to WALK back to the mall we went to the day before, which was 40 minutes away. OYYY. We stopped at a Lawson's convenience store at 2:08 for some sustenance before the journey and we were off!

Geo Kanazawa Motogiku

On our walk to the mall we enjoyed some nice views, even though our feet were yelling at us. We walked over a bridge that crossed the Sai River, which was pretty. We also passed by a game store and I pointed it out to Christian because he was hunting for cheap games and game systems. He grabbed a couple games and an amiibo figure for way less than it would have been at home. Sadly no picture because I was TIRED and my back was killing me.

Kanazawa Forus

We made it back to Kanazawa Station just after 3 and took a brief rest by some fountains before heading into the mall again to do a little more shopping and find food. We sat down to eat at 4 and were done just after 4:30. Then we popped into a really fun vintage shop full of old sweaters, American tshirts and more! They had a TON of sweaters that Neil from The Santa Clause would have LOVED. I almost bought a couple less wild sweaters but decided to save the room. Kind of regretting it now, haha. By 5 we were ready to head back to the machiya house.

Machiya House

We got back to the house by 5:30 and just relaxed. We also packed up all our bags so we could leave for Kyoto first thing in the morning. I did a quick face mask in bed at 8:15 and was ready for bed by 8:30pm!

Shirakawa-gō (did not visit)

Our original plan was to visit Shirakawa-gō for an afternoon. It is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Ogimachi is a small village in Shirakawa-gō made up of gasshō-zukuri buildings. During Winter they will actually light up the village and it is supposed to be beautiful blanketed in snow. The thatched roofs are made without nails and are strong enough to withstand a ton of snow.

After a lot of discussing pros and cons we decided against it. The journey was a little complicated with tight bus schedules and we decided our time would be better spent enjoying Kanazawa. Had we gone it would have been an hour and a half each way on a bus for us to only stay an hour or so. It was the right choice to skip it, but we still really want to visit so we'll have to go back. Maybe we'll plan it as an overnight instead!

Where We Ate

7Eleven

Christian grabbed a curry bread from 7/11 for $1.91 for his quick breakfast. I wasn't feeling a savory breakfast or one of their packaged baked goods so I skipped eating here.

Boulangerie mashi mashi

Luckily we stumbled upon this cute boulangerie right up the street on the way to Kanazawa Castle! We walked past and I did a double take and we walked in. I got a cinnamon roll for ¥230. The icing was really good but I could have used a little more cinnamon inside. But it was nice to have something freshly baked instead of packaged.

Omicho Market

After visiting Kanazawa Castle and the Kenrokuen Garden we headed to Omicho Market to find some street food! The first thing on our list was grilled unagi (eel) with a barbecue sauce. We got one skewer for ¥500 and it was really good! The barbecue sauce was sweet and soy-forward with some smokiness from the grilling, The eel was extremely tender. When you took a bite it practically melted in your mouth. I forgot to take a picture before we ate it, so enjoy some video screenshots, haha!

Next I spent ¥800 on some high quality strawberries. And that was the low end of pricing. We saw some as much as ¥4000 for only a few strawberries. You may have seen on Instagram or YouTube that Japan has an obsession with perfect fruits. So the better quality, the higher the cost! Some people have spent $50 on ONE strawberry. There were many shops selling them so in the end I just grabbed them from a random one. The strawberries were very sweet and delicious. We ate those later in the day back at the house.

After that we stopped by Omichokorokke for some fried goodness. We ordered a Noto beef croquette and Kanazawa Curry Bread, a beef curry filled bread stick. The croquette was light and crispy filled with delicious beef. And the curry bread was super flavorful! I forgot what we paid for both of these because we used cash, but I imagine it was under ¥1000.

For a final treat we grabbed a soy hot chocolate and ice cream from Futa Roku. We could have gotten a Kanazawa specialty covered in gold leaf, but didn't feel like paying a ton for the novelty, ha ha. They even had a little seating area for customers only so we took a well deserved rest while we enjoyed our sweets.

Lawsons

Post-shopping fail we got some snacks at the convenience store before taking a 30-ish minute walk back to the main area of Kanazawa. I got a bag of mini chocolate cookies and animal shaped castella (japanese sponge cakes) and Christian got beef curry bread. $3.49 well spent!

Pomunoki/Pommes/Pomme no Ki, Kanazawa Forus

Getting omurice (omelette over rice) was on our list of things to try and though this was a chain we were not in the mood to wait in a line for a more authentic place. The theme of our trip, ha ha. Maybe on trip number 2 we'll wait in more lines. Anyway...I wasn't hungry enough for a full one myself so Christian ordered a medium omelette with pork tonkatsu and a curry-ish sauce (so we could share) and I got a side dish regular and sweet potato fries. Sodas were also required to lift our spirits after a crazy afternoon. We spent $20.74 here and it was VERY filling.