On the east side of Honshu, on the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa is compared to Kyoto because of its traditional buildings and a cityscape that escaped World War II destruction.  The city was a regional center of government, art and Zen Buddhism.  It has a preserved Samari district, a Geisha district, gardens, castles and Museums.  It was a rich town because of gold in the area and is still known for its gold leaf.  It has a loop bus for which you can buy a day pass. 

We opted to not try to rush to see it all in a day but lingered at two sites.  The first was the Kanazawa Castle Park.  The Castle was originally built in 1570 and housed the Maeda clan for 14 generations.  Parts were destroyed by fire in the 19^th century parts are older.  The stonework in undergoing renovation.

The second spot we visited were the Keroku-en gardens, across the highway from the castle.  The gardens were laid out in the 1620s but only opened to the public in the 19^th century.  Suzi and I got free admission because we are older than 65.   

Along the way we treated ourselves to some Ice Cream with gold leaf, a local specialty.  You eat the gold leaf.  That seems to me strange, something like a self-indulgent billionaire might do as a way of displaying his wealth.  I was tempted to pluck it off the ice cream roll it into a tiny ball and put it in my safe deposit box when I got home but I followed local custom and ate it.

At the garden we saw the ladies to seat us in the Westerdam dining room.   They had splurged to rent kimonos for the day and I walked right past when Dee said “Rich, Suzi, don’t you recognize us!”