This is a personalized tour for people or group who want to explore Kanazawa in a half day (4hour).
Kanazawa attractions: Kenrokuen park, Kanazawa castle park, Nagamachi Samurai District, Higashi Tea (Geisha) Street, Nomura house and so on.
You can choose starting time at either 9am or 1pm.
The Itinerary is one example. This tour is very FLEXIBLE AND DESIGNED ONLY FOR YOU.
At your hotel
I will pick you up at your hotel or JR Kanazawa station
Kenrokuen (兼六園) in Kanazawa is justifiably classified as one of Japan's "three most beautiful landscape gardens" alongside Mito's Kairakuen and Okayama's Korakuen. The spacious grounds used to be the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle and were constructed by the ruling Maeda family over a period of nearly two centuries. Opened to the public in 1871, Kenrokuen features a variety of flowering trees which provide the garden with a different look for each season.
rom 1583 to the end of the Edo Period, Kanazawa Castle (金沢城, Kanazawajō) was the seat of the powerful Maeda Clan, lords of Kaga, a feudal domain ranking second only to the Tokugawa possessions in terms of size and wealth.
The castle burnt down several times over the centuries, and the most recent fires of 1881 were survived only by two storehouses and the Ishikawa-mon Gate. The gate dates from 1788 and faces Kenrokuen. For several decades, Kanazawa University occupied the former castle grounds until the campus was moved to the city's outskirts in the early 1990s. Since then, a project is underway to rebuild the castle's former buildings. In the meantime, most central structures are standing again and make a visit more interesting.
The Higashi Chaya District (東茶屋街, Higashi Chayagai) is the largest and by far the most interesting. Two chaya, the Shima Teahouse and Kaikaro Teahouse, are open to the public. Other buildings along the central street now house cafes and shops. One of the shops, Hakuza, sells gold leaf products, a specialty of Kanazawa, and displays a tea ceremony room which is completely covered in gold leaf.
At your hotel
This tour will be designed for only for you.
We can visit places you want to visit.
It will be 2-3 spots we may be able to visit in a half day (4h)
If you have no idea, I can create this tour based on your interests.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Including guide fee, hotel pick-up in the center of Kanazawa, transportation fee (bus) for guide
Transportation fee for participants. Taxi fee if you prefer (You and guide), entrance fee for you and guide
Entrance fee: Kenrokuen 320yen, Nomura house 550yen
Taxi: 1,200yen per ride on average
This tour is a half day (4 hours) tour walking around in Kanazawa
You can choose starting time at either 9am or 1pm
Walking distance per tour.
Walking only: 6-7km
Walking with bus 4-5km
Waling with Taxi: 3-4km
We enjoyed very much our tour with Yoji. He was very flexible, educated with interesting facts and trivia, and personable about life in Japan. His English was excellent and thus communication was clear.
Yoji was great. Our first priority was finding my wife's ancestors gravesite in Nodayama Cemetery and Yoji led us all over (it's huge) until we found it and adjusted the schedule to fit our search. He is also very knowledgable of the area and took us to great spots.
Thank you very much for your time making a review and comment on me. I am very happy to find the grave site in Nodayama finally! The day should be played in the documentary. As a clue, we wandered 2 hours but we couldn’t find under raining and many spiders webs. Then we finally found in the afternoon! It was a fantastic experience and memory for both of you! And for me as well. Thank you for letting me be in the moment. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip in Japan! Take good care!
From the moment we met Yoji at the train station we knew we were in good hands. He is kind, attentive and patient. He spent time prior to our visit contacting the 4th generation craftsman, Yoshinori san, to plan our tour. We stopped along the way at a sushi “conveyor belt” restaurant, which was quite entertaining! Once we got to the Orin workshop it was clear it was a magical place. Yoshinori san explained how he forms the bowls and “tunes” them to the sound they are meant to have. He provides Orin bowls to many Buddhist temples throughout Japan and beyond. We each got to experience a bowl singing around our head and on our abdomen while lying on our backs. We took all the time we needed to select a bowl to take home. It was a very meaningful experience and we appreciate Yoji’s willingness to do the extra work to make it happen and to be our interpreter with the craftsman.
Thank you very much for your review and comment on my tour. I had wonderful day with you. It was my first time to visit Orin bowl factory. He was a professional handcraft man. I was impressed by his work and his attitude towards his work. I hope you enjoyed the day with me. Thank you very much for giving me such a great opportunity and belt conveyer sushi which was very fun! Stay in touch!
A review from someone who rarely writes a review.... Our day tour was by far the highlight of our holiday! Yoji was absolutely fantastic! Yoji accommodated all our requirements, we were traveling with an 8 months old which made it tricky, but nothing was a problem for him. We also stopped at a little town for lunch and had lunch as a local which was very cool. Yoji was the perfect guide, very informative. Yoji, Thank you for a great day!!
Peter san, thank you for such a lovely comment. I just saw your review and comment on me after work without any expectations. It makes me smile^^ I had such a wonderful time with you all. I hope all of you enjoyed the day with me, even a smily baby. I’m happy to hear from you and see photos you took while I’m with you. I appreciate your time and kindness. Best regards, Yoji