Gold Leaf Ice Cream
Back from Maruoka, the first thing was the famous gold leaf soft serve. Kanazawa makes almost all of Japan’s gold leaf, so it’s on everything here. Honestly? It’s a scam. Regular vanilla soft serve with a thin slice of gold on top, and you pay extra for it. Duh. But you buy it anyway, for the “I’ve been to Kanazawa” photo.
The gold tastes of nothing, by the way. We checked.
Nishi Chaya
Nishi Chaya is the smallest of Kanazawa’s three geisha districts, a single short street of wooden teahouses. Compared to Higashi Chaya the day before, it was almost empty.
There’s a small free museum in an old teahouse, the Nishi Chaya Shiryokan, with a bright red room upstairs where the guests were entertained. The shamisen and the drum are still set out, as if the party is about to start.
On the walk over to the ninja temple, a wall of ema, the wooden plaques people write their wishes on.
Postcard from Nishi Chaya, Kanazawa
A free museum in an old teahouse on Nishi Chaya's one street, with the red tatami room upstairs where guests were entertained. The smallest of Kanazawa's three geisha districts, and the quietest.