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The Gankobashi stone bridge in Kenrokuen under cherry blossom
A view in the Kenrokuen garden
A street of the former geisha district of Higashi Chaya
The rebuilt buildings of Kanazawa Castle
Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool seen from above at the 21st Century Museum

Things to do in Kanazawa: 8 experiences

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Photo: SOHAFun, CC BY-SA 4.0

Kenrokuen, Kanazawa

Walk Kenrokuen, the garden of six sublimities, at dawn for free

Check dates and prices

Photo: 663highland, CC BY-SA 3.0

Higashi Chaya District, Kanazawa

Step inside a geisha teahouse in Kanazawa's Higashi Chaya district

Check dates and prices

Photo: Andrea Schaffer, CC BY 2.0

Kanazawa Castle Park, Kanazawa

See how Kanazawa Castle is being rebuilt with traditional joinery

Photo: Balon Greyjoy, CC0

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Stand under the water in Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool

Photo: ajari, CC BY 2.0

Kanazawa was the castle town of the Maeda lords, the richest domain after the Tokugawa, and it was one of the few major Japanese cities spared by air raids in the Second World War, so its geisha quarters, samurai lanes and great garden survive. It is now two and a half hours from Tokyo on the Hokuriku Shinkansen and the gateway to Shirakawa-go. This page covers Kenrokuen and the castle, the teahouses of Higashi Chaya, Omicho Market, the samurai district of Nagamachi, the Ninja Temple and two modern museums.

8 things to do in Kanazawa

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A view in the Kenrokuen garden

Walk Kenrokuen, the garden of six sublimities, at dawn for free

Kenrokuen, Kanazawa

1.5 to 2 hoursGo alone or with a tour

One of Japan's three great gardens, built by the Maeda lords over two centuries, free to enter in the early morning.

Check dates and pricesKanazawa main sights and hidden spots walk
Been there?
The rebuilt buildings of Kanazawa Castle

See how Kanazawa Castle is being rebuilt with traditional joinery

Kanazawa Castle Park, Kanazawa

1 to 1.5 hoursFree

The seat of the Maeda lords, second only to the Tokugawa in wealth, being rebuilt piece by piece with traditional carpentry.

Been there?
A street of the former geisha district of Higashi Chaya

Step inside a geisha teahouse in Kanazawa's Higashi Chaya district

Higashi Chaya District, Kanazawa

1.5 to 2 hoursGo alone or with a tour

The largest of Kanazawa's three old geisha quarters, where two teahouses open their rooms and a storehouse is clad in gold leaf.

Check dates and pricesGold leaf craft workshop in Higashi Chaya
Been there?
The covered western entrance of Omicho Market

Eat a seafood rice bowl at Omicho, Kanazawa's Edo-era market

Omicho Market, Kanazawa

1 to 1.5 hoursNo booking needed

Kanazawa's largest fresh food market since the Edo period, about 200 stalls of local seafood and produce under covered streets.

Been there?
Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool seen from above at the 21st Century Museum

Stand under the water in Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

1.5 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

A round museum with no front door, where you can look down into a pool and see people standing underwater.

Been there?
An earthen-walled lane in the Nagamachi samurai district

Walk Nagamachi's earthen walls into the Nomura samurai house

Nagamachi, Kanazawa

1 to 1.5 hoursNo booking needed

The old samurai quarter below the castle, with earthen walls, gates and canals, and a restored house of a family ruined by the Meiji reforms.

Been there?
Myoryuji, the Ninja Temple, in Kanazawa

Find the trapdoors and hidden stairs of Myoryuji, the Ninja Temple

Myoryuji, Teramachi, Kanazawa

About 1 hourBook ahead

A Maeda temple that was secretly a fortified outpost, full of hidden tunnels, trap doors and a maze of stairs.

Been there?
The D.T. Suzuki Museum in Kanazawa

Sit by the Water Mirror Garden at the D.T. Suzuki Museum

D.T. Suzuki Museum, Kanazawa

45 minutes to 1 hourNo booking needed

A small museum to the man who brought Zen to the West, built around a still pond you are meant to sit and look at.

Been there?

Traveller picks

Hidden gems suggested by travellers. We check each one before it goes up; the words are theirs, not ours.

No traveller picks for Kanazawa yet. Know a place most visitors miss?

Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    The JR Hokuriku Shinkansen runs directly from Tokyo to Kanazawa in two and a half to three hours, covered by the Japan Rail Pass. Highway buses from Tokyo take seven to eight hours. Buses link Kanazawa with Shirakawa-go in about an hour and a half, and on to Takayama.

  • Getting around

    The Kanazawa Loop Bus links the station with most sights, clockwise (Right Loop) and anticlockwise (Left Loop), every 15 to 20 minutes for ¥220 a ride. An ¥800 day pass covers the loop buses and most other central buses. Kenrokuen, the castle, the 21st Century Museum and the D.T. Suzuki Museum are close enough to walk between.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, two days: one for Kenrokuen, the castle, the museums and Nagamachi, and one for Omicho, Higashi Chaya and the Ninja Temple. Add a night in a Shirakawa-go farmhouse on the way to Takayama.

  • When to go

    Plum blossom from mid February and cherry blossom around mid April in Kenrokuen; autumn colour from mid to late November. Winter brings snow, and the yukitsuri ropes that hold up the branches of Kenrokuen's pines. The 21st Century Museum closes for renovation from 6 May 2027 to March 2028.

Questions travellers ask

Can you visit Kenrokuen for free?

Yes, in the early-admission hours, which start between 4:00 and 6:00 depending on the season. You must leave before regular hours begin (7:00 or 8:00). Otherwise admission is ¥320.

Do I need to book the Ninja Temple?

It is recommended. Myoryuji is seen only on guided tours every 30 to 60 minutes from 9:00 to 16:00, for ¥1,200, and advance reservations by phone are advised. Tours are in Japanese with English guidebooks.

Is the Kanazawa Cultural Zone Pass worth it?

If you plan several sights, yes. It covers Kenrokuen, the castle's turrets and storehouse, Nomura-ke and the Shinise Kinenkan in Nagamachi, and the D.T. Suzuki Museum, among others.

Is the 21st Century Museum open?

Until 6 May 2027. It then closes for renovation until March 2028, with an art festival planned around the city centre meanwhile.

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