Walk Kenrokuen and the Higashi Chaya district in Kanazawa

What the experience is

A morning’s walk through the two places that define Kanazawa. Kenrokuen is the garden the Maeda lords made over two centuries on the hill beside their castle, with a pond, winding streams, some 8,750 trees and a two-legged stone lantern that has become the emblem of the city. Higashi Chaya, about half an hour away on foot, is the largest of three surviving districts of chaya, the houses where geisha entertain guests with music and dance.

The walk is easy and flat apart from the slope up to the garden. What makes it an experience is the hour. Kenrokuen admits visitors free of charge in the early morning, before the ticket office opens, and at that time it belongs to local walkers and the gardeners.

The route

Enter the garden at dawn and walk to Kasumigaike, the main pond, for the Kotoji lantern and the Karasaki pine. Continue past the fountain, which rises about 3.5 metres under natural water pressure and is said to be the oldest in Japan, and around the streams to the plum grove. An hour is enough; ninety minutes is better.

Leave by the gate facing the castle and cross the castle park. From its far side, walk north-east to the Asano River and over the bridge to Higashi Chaya. The main street is lined with two-storey houses with wooden lattice fronts. Shima, kept as a museum, shows the rooms where guests were entertained, with instruments and kitchen in place. Kaikaro, which still works as a teahouse, opens by day and serves tea. Other houses hold cafes and shops selling the city’s gold leaf.

When to go

Every season has a case. Cherry blossom comes around mid-April and autumn colour from mid-November to early December. From November the pines are tied with cones of rope against the snow, and the garden under snow is the classic view. Kanazawa is rainy all year; carry an umbrella.

Good to know

The early free admission starts at different hours through the year and ends shortly before regular opening; visitors must leave by then or buy a ticket. The teahouses open from mid-morning, so a breakfast stop at Omicho Market or a visit to the castle park fills the gap. The loop bus from Kanazawa station reaches the garden in about twenty minutes and Higashi Chaya in about fifteen.

Why OKYTO recommends it

Kanazawa was not bombed in the war, and this walk shows what a Japanese castle town looked like: the lord’s garden, the castle, the river and the licensed quarter beyond it, in their original relation. Done early, it avoids the crowds that the shinkansen has brought.