Kanazawa - The City of Golden Ice Cream

Kanazawa is quite a popular tourist destination, especially for those who are looking to see traditional architecture without the Kyoto crowds. The two towns - Kyoto and Kanazawa are often compared to each other as they were both spared bombing during the second world war, preserving their beautiful historical districts and wooden buildings. They each have their unique charms and if you have time on your Japan trip, visiting both might be a good idea.

Besides its historical districts and a famous Japanese garden, Kanazawa is most well known for producing 99% of Japan´s golden leaf. It is used in crafts, food or beauty products, however, one of the most unique ways it is used isfor fixing broken ceramics – this technique is called kintsugi. It’s quite poetic isn´t it? Putting broken things back together using gold, making them whole again and even they will never be the same as before, sometimes they turn out even more beautiful than before.

There are a few workshops in town where you can experience kintsugi if you reserve in advance, and it is something I would like to try next time I visit.

Tired from previous few days of travel, I got out the business hotel I stayed at at around 10 in the morning - much later than I usually would. Leaving my backpack in a coin locker at the Kanazawa station, I headed out to the city on foot. I have marked a few places I wanted to see on google maps but the main goalfor the day was clear – eating the famous “golden ice cream”.

There are a few places where you can enjoy this extravagant delicatesse, but the most well-known one is in the Higashi Chaya historic area, which is a lovely neighborhood lined with traditional wooden houses and restaurants offering local dishes. I took a route that went along the river, enjoying the warm sunlight and threading through the narrow streets between the houses that really reminded me of the traditional machiya in Kyoto.

As I was making my way to the to complete my ice cream mission, I stumbled upon what I would call the perfect café – Kuroneko (Black Cat) café. This happened just as I was starting to get a bit hungry so the timing was on spot as well. The building was a traditional wooden one, the interior was completed with tatami floors, wooden furniture, a view of a garden and cat themed decorations.. I got their curry lunch set with soup and salad and it was delicious. The only thing that was missing here was a real cat and, honestly, I was hoping it would come out at some point.

I had a short talk with the owner and he kindly gifted me a cute cat-themed coaster. Leaving the cafe behing I waled for a few more minutes and arrived arrived at Hakuichi Higashiyama, a golden leaf souvenir store famous for its golden ice cream. The line to get inside was stretching all the way outside of the store, but it was surprisingly just a few minutes wait. I noticed a note that you are not supposed to eat the ice cream outside and are to stay inside the building. Hmmm..I understand why such a rule is in place, but I also really wanted to take a nice picture. I do not encourage anyone to do the same, but I took my ice cream and quickly walked around a corner, snapped a photo and run back inside. I walked up the stairs to the rest area on the second floor and finally was able to enjoy my ice cream.

It was.. a little bit metallic. As much as the golden leaf is photogenic, I would not say you will be blown away by its taste. I finished the ice cream and with a with a few golden flakes on my hands I looked around the souvenir store on the first floor. There is a lot to choose from - cosmetics, snacks, ceramics.. all decorated with gold or golden leaf. I bought a lip balm with golden freckles in it for my friend and a face mask from the same brand for me, hoping it will make my face glow :D. Another interesting souvenir was a botle of edible golden flakes - what a way to “level up” your dishes.

Satisfied with completing my mission in Kanazawa, I was thinking about one more place I wanted see before heading back to the station. Honestly, I wish I had more time as the traditional districts are really nice to walk around and are great for photography. I wondered around the Higashiyama-chaya district a little bit more and then made my way to one of the most famous gardens in Japan.

The Kenrokuen garden was a little bit busy, but not too crowded. There were a few groups of high-schoolers from Europe and I was thinking how amazing it must be to have a school trip to Japan.

I was never the biggest fan of botanical gardens on solo trips but I am starting to understand why people like them – so many various sceneries, plants, trees and flowers you would never see side by side outside in the nature. I think it would be even better with a guide who could tell you more about the history and significance of each of the areas and aspects of the garden.

I had just enough time to take the bus back to the train station, get my things from the coin locker and buy a ticket for the next train. However, the bus was not coming... after waiting for about 15 minutes I had to improvise and luckily was able to hail a taxi that was passing by. I made it back to the train station just in time and even though at first I forgot where my locker was, somehow I managed to find it and I was on my way to the next prefecture – Toyama.

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A little bit of a side story, as I was taking pictures in one of historical districts, I was approached by a Japanese man, maybe in his late 30´s. He first asked me the time, which I answered. He then followed up with a few questions – where are you from? Is it your first time in Kanazawa? Are you traveling alone?? (This is when the alarm bells in my head went off a bit) Honestly, maybe he was not a bad person and just wanted to practice his English..but I wanted to be rather safe than sorry. After telling him that I have to hurry because my friend is waiting for me, he asked for my email address. I did not give it to him. It did make me feel a bit conflicted – I do want to wholeheartedly support everyone who wants to learn a language, I just felt like something was off. Decided to trust my gut and politely walk away from the situation. What would you have done?

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