04 May 2025

Crazy for Kanazawa

Our good luck with the weather continued as set off in three groups to explore and experience the best Kanazawa has to offer.

The group headed for the hills to spend the day exploring Ogimachi Gassho Village, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site due to its important role in preserving traditional Japanese ‘Kraft’ houses that were common in this area about 400 years ago, and Sagunuma Village, a smaller, more quaint, version of Ogimachi also featuring Gassho-zukuri Kraft houses and an elevator in a mountain!

Group number 2 headed south to Yunokuni no Mori, a traditional handicrafts village where they tried Japanese paper making, glass-work, gold inlaid chopstick etching, buckwheat noodle making, and more learning from skilled artisans of these time-honoured traditions.

Our last group made their way to sample the wares at Omicho Market - Kanazawa’s largest fresh food market since 1603. Nearby the historic Nagamachi Samurai District lined with traditional wooden houses provided a step back in time while the Kutani-yaki Art Museum was devoted to historic Kutani porcelain. An intricate, Gold Leaf Pasting Experience in the Geisha District, where the gold leaf Kanazawa has produced for more than 400 years, was used to create guest’s own personalised chopsticks.

Groups also had the opportunity to visit famed Kanazawa Castle and Kenroku-en Garden, ranked in the nation’s top three strolling gardens for embodying the ideal garden attributes.

Back on Heritage Adventurer we enjoyed an incredible farewell from the people of Kanazawa – a fitting farewell as we come to the end of this amazing Discover the Islands of Japan voyage.

Images © S. Bradley & D. Minty, Heritage Expeditions