Kamakura to Kanazawa
The JR Pass was really earning its keep today. Out of the hotel at 5:30am, with Kamakura’s streets completely empty, the train to Tokyo Station, then the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa, about two and a half hours across the middle of Japan to the Sea of Japan side.
Kanazawa Station’s Tsuzumi Gate is the first thing you see, a huge wooden gate shaped like a hand drum, in front of a glass dome.
Kanazawa Castle
We left our bags and went straight to Kanazawa Castle. It was the seat of the Maeda clan, the richest feudal lords in Japan after the shogun himself. There’s no main keep anymore, but the white walls, the long turrets and the lead-tiled roofs, white with age, are beautiful against a blue sky.
Kenrokuen
Across the road is Kenrokuen, one of the three great gardens of Japan. It’s huge, and every corner looks like a postcard: old pine trees held up with poles and ropes, mossy hills, teahouses, and Kasumigaike pond in the middle.
The two-legged Kotoji lantern by the pond is the symbol of Kenrokuen. There’s also the Karasaki pine, with its branches spread out over the water, and what’s said to be the oldest fountain in Japan, running on nothing but the water pressure from the pond above.
Then a late lunch and check-in, before an afternoon in Kanazawa’s old districts: samurai houses and geisha streets.
Information About Kenrokuen
One of Japan's three great gardens, right next to Kanazawa Castle Park. The castle grounds are free, the garden has a small fee. Two to three hours for both.