Kanazawa, a city with just about everything Kyoto offers but packed into a smaller footprint and will much smaller crowds. There is even ahandy public transport solution with a loop bus running at 15 minute intervals past everything you’re likely to want to see. My first stop was in the Higashi Chaya District (Eastern Teahouse District). Lovely streets lined with wooden buildings from over 200 years ago, many of which were teahouses, but now are restaurants, souvenirs and other things tourists would want. People still live here in this area though, with quite a few private properties labelled to keep rude toruists away.
Kenroku-en gardens however are the highlight of Kanazawa. Imagine a japanese garden in your mind and Kenroku-en will be what you pictured. A garden full of lush greenery, mossy rocks, water features, quaint little bridges and stone lanterns. I enjoyed some tea and mochi at a tradtional teahouse, taking in the beautiful scenery. The park did get quite busy, but it never felt like too many people, there were always quiet spots to enjoy the gardens. A tour group on a struck schedule might march on past following the flag on the stick but as soon as they appeared they soon disappeared.
The Samurai quarter was at first glance, streets lined with rendered walls occasionally interrupted by a gate or tree. The old samurai house was however an oasis. The small private garden was however the perfect spot to sit for 15 minutes, with just the sound of the trickle of water through the garden to keep me company. The house was the standard Japanese style with tatami mats on the floor and water thin paper doors between the rooms. There were a handful of exhibits of armour and weapons as well.
There are quite a few interesting temples dotted around the city including the Oyama Shinto shrine. Souvenir sellers were mostly flogging samurai themed stuff. It definitely looked differne to other temples I’ve been too, but not I’ve not done a lot of research on any temple and mostly going off aesthetics! Kanazawa though for me ticked a lot more boxes than Kyoto did and I thoroughly enjoyed the city.