Kanazawa was the seat of the Maeda clan, the wealthiest feudal domain in Japan after the Tokugawa themselves, and the money went into craft rather than military spending — gold leaf, lacquer, Kutani porcelain, silk dyeing, Noh theatre. The city still produces almost all of Japan's gold leaf.
It was also never bombed. Kanazawa had no significant military industry and it survived the Second World War intact, which is why three Edo-period districts still stand where in most Japanese cities they do not.
The three districts
Higashi Chaya, the eastern teahouse district, is the largest and best preserved: two-storey wooden buildings with slatted latticework, several open to visitors, and geisha still working in a small number of them.
Nishi Chaya, the western one, is smaller and quieter.
Nagamachi, the samurai district, is different in kind: earthen walls along narrow lanes, with the residences of middle-ranking retainers behind them, and water channels running down the streets.
Between them sits Kenrokuen, which is generally counted among the three great gardens of Japan, and the castle grounds beside it.
The city is compact — everything above is within about two kilometres — and it is on the shinkansen from Tokyo, which took it from a place people flew to occasionally to a straightforward two and a half hour trip.
The seven below are grouped by position relative to those districts.
Between the districts
Central, walkable to all three quarters and the garden.
Hyatt Centric Kanazawa occupies a building in the centre with a design that draws on local craft, a good restaurant and the shortest walking radius to Higashi Chaya, Nagamachi and Kenrokuen.
Hyatt Centric Kanazawa
Central Kanazawa · 4★ · $$$
Shortest walking radius to all three old districts
Check availabilityKUMU Kanazawa by THE SHARE HOTELS sits near the Omicho market with rooms that reference Kanazawa's crafts, a bar and a compact contemporary format.
KUMU Kanazawa by THE SHARE HOTELS
Near Omicho market · 4★ · $$
Rooms built around Kanazawa's craft traditions
Check availabilityKanazawa Hakuchoro Hotel Sanraku -Natural Hot Spring- occupies a position between the station and the centre, with a top-floor bath, a garden and views over the city.
Kanazawa Hakuchoro Hotel Sanraku -Natural Hot Spring-
Near the castle · 4★ · $$$
Top-floor bath and a garden by the castle grounds
Check availabilityNear Kenrokuen and the castle
Beside the garden, on the eastern side.
Hotel Nikko Kanazawa sits within walking distance of Kenrokuen with a garden of its own, a hot spring bath and a traditional format.
Hotel Nikko Kanazawa
Kanazawa station · 4★ · $$$
Tower above the station with a spa and restaurants
Check availabilityANA Crowne Plaza Kanazawa by IHG occupies a hillside position with a public bath fed from a hot spring, tatami rooms and a quieter setting than the centre.
ANA Crowne Plaza Kanazawa by IHG
Kanazawa station · 4★ · $$
Reliable rooms with a bath house near the shinkansen
Check availabilityKanazawa station
The shinkansen end, under the wooden Tsuzumi gate.
Hotel Intergate Kanazawa occupies a tower attached to the station with a spa, several restaurants and the shortest transfer of anything in the city.
Hotel Intergate Kanazawa
Korinbo, central · 4★ · $$
Contemporary rooms between Nagamachi and the garden
Check availabilityHotel Kanazawa sits near the station with contemporary rooms, a bath house and rates below the central hotels.
Hotel Kanazawa
Riverside, near Higashi Chaya · 4★ · $$
Closest to the eastern teahouse district
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The machiya conversions across the old districts are excluded, and staying inside a two-hundred-year-old wooden townhouse in Higashi Chaya is a genuinely good way to experience Kanazawa. They are self-catering rentals rather than hotels.
What to do
Go to Kenrokuen at opening. The garden is best empty and in winter it has the yukitsuri, the rope cones rigged over the pines to protect the branches from snow, which is the image of Kanazawa.
Walk Higashi Chaya early and again after dark, when the lanterns are lit and the day visitors have gone.
See the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, a circular glass building by SANAA that is one of the best modern museums in Japan, with a swimming pool installation that everyone photographs.
Eat at the Omicho market, which has been running since the eighteenth century, and eat the seafood: Kanazawa is on the Sea of Japan and the winter crab and yellowtail are the reason chefs from Tokyo come here.
Try gold leaf. It is applied to ice cream and sake as a novelty and it is also a serious craft with workshops you can visit.
Practical notes
The shinkansen from Tokyo takes about two and a half hours. Kanazawa is also a straightforward stop between Tokyo and Kyoto if you are willing to change trains.
Spring and autumn are the best seasons. Winter is grey, wet and snowy on this coast, and it is when the seafood is at its best and the garden looks most striking. Summer is hot and humid.
The city is walkable and the loop bus covers the rest.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Kanazawa Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Why is Kanazawa intact?
It had no significant military industry and was not bombed, which is why three Edo districts survive here and almost nowhere else.
Is it worth a detour from the Tokyo-Kyoto route?
Two and a half hours from Tokyo on the shinkansen, and yes. It gives you preserved districts without Kyoto's crowds.
When is the seafood best?
Winter, particularly for crab. It is also the wettest season.
How many nights?
Two. Everything is within walking distance and the districts deserve an evening as well as a morning.