This “Little Kyoto” delivers big on traditional Japanese culture, without the crowds.

Overlooking Kanazawa from a viewpoint atop Mount Utatsu.

While Kyoto remains Japan’s cultural mecca, its magic is increasingly obscured by the crowds. The ancient city’s struggle with overtourism has become so severe that New York Magazine recently called it a tourist trap with “zero zen.” Local officials have even approved a sharply higher lodging tax to stem the flow of visitors.

For travelers seeking a more intimate encounter with old Japan, Kanazawa—on the opposite coast of Honshu, facing the Sea of Japan—offers what Kyoto no longer can: serenity. Nicknamed “Little Kyoto” for its rich Edo-era heritage, this city of 450,000 people was once the seat of the powerful Maeda clan, who ruled the surrounding region for nearly three centuries. Along with well-preserved samurai districts and one of the country’s three great gardens, Kenrokuen, Kanazawa possesses a rich legacy of crafts and folk art that has earned it a place in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network. Yet the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture also pulses with modernity, from its contemporary art and nuanced cuisine to its impeccable hospitality.

Reaching Kanazawa is effortless compared to Kyoto’s gridlock: the bullet train from Tokyo covers the 450-kilometer journey in just over two and a half hours. It deposited my mother and me at one of Japan’s most striking stations—a futuristic glass-and-steel canopy anchored by a gate of cedar pillars that echo the hourglass shape of the tsuzumi hand drum, a nod to Kanazawa’s deeply rooted ties to Noh and Kabuki theater. Inside, we wandered past restaurants, sake bars, and souvenir shops alongside boutiques by high-end brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

Our home for the next two nights was Kinjohro (from US$530 a night), an elegant ryokan founded all the way back in 1890. With its private onsen baths and tatami-matted rooms that open onto miniature gardens, staying here felt like slipping into another century guided by formality, tradition, and grace. Another highlight was the inn’s ryotei restaurant, where kimono-clad hosts ushered us into a private dining room for a kaiseki dinner showcasing kaga-ryori, the refined local cuisine. It began with a meticulous arrangement of seasonal appetizers: chimaki (savory rice parcels), local sea snail, tender asparagus bound with kelp, and a bite of egg-yolk tofu. Subsequent courses brought a comforting duck stew called jibuni, sushi wrapped in bamboo leaves, and rice with regional salmon and wakame seaweed.

Our culinary discoveries continued the next morning at Omicho Market, a labyrinth of some 170 stalls known as “Kanazawa’s Kitchen.” Established more than 300 years ago, it brims with bounty from the Sea of Japan: scallops, crab claws, glistening rows of ruby-red tuna. The air smelled of salt and seaweed. We slurped uni straight from the shell—sweet, briny, and custardy—and tried fresh oysters dressed simply with soy sauce and lemon. Winter visitors can indulge in the city’s legendary snow crab, but in late spring, the showstopper is nigiri of beef from the nearby Noto Peninsula, torched lightly over rice.

Left to right: Omakase dishes at A_Restaurant; silk kimonos made using the kaga yuzen dyeing technique.

Left to right: An artisan working with a sheet of gold leaf at Hakuichi; Kanazawa Station’s iconic Tsuzumi Gate.

Afterward, we joined a rickshaw tour through Higashi Chaya, the largest and best preserved of Kanazawa’s three historic geisha districts. Our driver, a spirited local in his twenties, pedaled us along narrow lanes once designed to confuse invaders. Ginkgo trees lined the route as we passed lattice-fronted teahouses and shops selling handmade wagashi confections. The ride wound past temples, shrines, and the Asano River, which flows serenely through town from its headwaters in the Asakura Mountains. While we didn’t spot an actual geisha, the streets were dotted with tourists posing for photos in rented kimonos and wooden geta sandals.

Our dinner that evening was at A_Restaurant, one of the city’s most inventive omakase experiences. Sapporo-born chef Hideyuki Kon structures his multicourse menu like a musical composition: intro, verse, bridge, and chorus. Highlights included a ceviche-style hirame (olive flounder) served in a hollowed cucumber filled with tomato granita, microgreens, and edible blossoms; and a delicate seafood course of grilled white asparagus topped with amaebi (sweet shrimp), pickled vegetables, and mushrooms in a vivid green herb broth. The final trio of desserts, crafted tableside by the pâtissier in a swirl of smoke and foam, felt more like theater than dining.

The next day, we set out on foot for Kenrokuen Garden, adjacent to the former feudal stronghold of Kanazawa Castle. Spread across 11 hectares, this masterpiece of Edo-era landscaping embodies the six prized Japanese design attributes: spaciousness, tranquility, artifice, antiquity, flowing water, and scenic views. Cherry and plum blossoms painted the sky pink, while the Karasaki Pine, planted in the 19th century, stretches its gnarled limbs over one of the country’s prettiest ornamental ponds. Wooden bridges and shaded paths offered peaceful strolls—a serene contrast to oft-congested gardens of Kyoto.

Just a five-minute Uber ride away is the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. In such a tradition-rooted city, this institution was a radical statement when it opened two decades ago. It still is. Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, who would go on to win the 2010 Pritzker Prize, the circular glass-walled structure has no designated entrance, inviting visitors to choose their own path. Exhibits rotate frequently, but one permanent favorite endures: Leandro Erlich’s The Swimming Pool, a walk-in installation where guests appear to stand underwater beneath a shimmering surface.

Belgian artist Jan Fabre’s The Man Who Measures the Clouds is displayed on the rooftop of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. (Photo: Watanabe Osamu/Courtesy of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art)

Left to right: Kenrokuen Garden; painting a kutani-yaki teacup. (© Kanazawa City)

Various hands-on craft experiences awaited us as well. At the nearby Kaga Yuzen Kimono Center, it was a class in kaga yuzen, a centuries-old silk dyeing technique defined by its use of five signature hues—royal purple, indigo, crimson, ocher, and dark green—and a delicate shading method that fades from the edges toward the center of nature motifs. You can also get behind a potter’s wheel at Kutani Kosen Kiln, a ceramics studio that turns out Ishikawa’s celebrated local porcelain, kutani-yaki, known for its intricate designs and vivid colors.

Back in Higashi Chaya, there’s Kanazawa Higashiyama Shitsurae, a 200-year-old machiya (townhouse) that today serves as a showroom and workshop for Hakuichi, a leading producer of Kanazawa’s famed kinpaku (gold leaf). Here, visitors can create their own gilded souvenir. We chose to decorate black wooden plates, carefully applying adhesive before tweezing whisper-thin sheets of gold across the surface. A mere breath could send the leaf floating away.

After finishing our mementos, we headed to the café upstairs, where matcha and delicate sweets were served in ohi-yaki pottery, still made by the same family after 11 generations. For a final indulgence, we ordered what has become a viral treat: soft-serve ice cream wrapped in edible gold leaf.

On our last morning in Kanazawa, my mother turned her gold-leaf plate toward the light before wrapping it in tissue for the flight home. It was a reflection of the city itself—elegant yet unpretentious, and steeped in tradition. Kanazawa offers the rarest luxury in the modern world: peace—the kind that lets you watch a sheet of gold leaf lift with your breath, and hear the wind whisper through the ginkgo leaves.

Left to right: A view over Kanazawa’s historic Higashi Chaya district; a geisha. (© Kanazawa City)

This article originally appeared in the December 2025/February 2026 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“The Case for Kanazawa”). Buy a single issue or subscribe here.

Kanazawa: Where Zen and Edo-Era Heritage Meet

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