Kanazawa in Summer

There’s a typhoon going on outside my window as I write this right now.

I went to Kanazawa in August, right in the middle of the summer when the heat wave was going strong in Japan. I remember wondering when this scorching torture would ever end, but I guess we’ve segued right into another kind of extreme weather. Anyway, Kanazawa was incredible all the same

It was my first time in Kanazawa, and my first time taking the night bus too. The bullet train was three times more expensive so we took the overnight bus, which only cost us ¥3000 and our backs and shoulders. Kanazawa’s a seven-hour trip from Tokyo, and we arrived at dawn when no one was around.

Actually no one’s really around Kanazawa in general. We decided to come here only because we figured Kyoto would be too crowded with tourists and so went with our second choice. Sorry Kanazawa, you come first in our hearts now

Our first stop was Higashi Chaya District, which is one of the better known places in this city. You’d think a famous spot like this would be packed, but not a single person was there! So we took our time taking pictures (and it was 7am, so we had lots of time).

It was great that the town was super empty and all, but the only thing was that all the stores were closed. We went around and around looking for breakfast and finally found this one cafe where we got ourselves a pile of fat fluffy pancakes.

One sweet thing led to another, and I got the famous gold leaf ice creamJust going to go ahead and add more sparkles in there. It was dazzling.

Quite possibly my favourite view—this one random hill in the middle of Kanazawa filled with old Japanese houses. I just really, really liked looking from the top of the slope at the landscape below.

Except it had a seriously steep climb.

Cooling down with some icy ramune soda

We also managed to get into the 21st Century Museum, which was so packed that we couldn’t even get in the first day we went. It took us the second try and a good half-hour head start before the place actually opened. But we made it in and got the money shot! Which in this case translates to the one shot that everyone is paying to enter and take in their famous swimming pool exhibit.

It was actually pretty cool.

And this was our guesthouseIt’s now up there in my favourite places to have ever stayed at. It’s owned by this nice old man who’s kept the traditional house for decades, and as soon as he arrived he sat us down in his garden for popsicles and rice crackers.

It really was a beautiful garden.

There are just lots of traditional places and streets all over Kanazawa like the Nishi Chaya District, which is like the east one but a lot narrower and hushed. This one had lots of turns and tiny corners and felt kind of secretive in nature.

But we managed to find this small cafe hidden behind some trees where they served us cucumber-flavoured ice cream and gold flakes. They may look old but Kanazawa is truly ahead of its time with all this avant-garde food.

I’ll be back someday in what is now my favourite city outside Tokyo