Travel to Kanazawa and Gokayama Part 6: Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District

[Introduction]

I traveled to Kanazawa (Ishikawa Prefecture) and Gokayama (Toyama Prefecture) for three days and two nights. This was my first visit to Hokuriku District and I felt unique atmosphere there. In this article, I will write about Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District as part of Day 2.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1 (1) Kanazawa Station, Omi-cho Market and Oyama Jinja Shrine
* Day 1 (2) Buke Yashiki District, 21st Century Museum and D.T. Suzuki Museum
* Day 1 (3) Kanazawa Castle Park and Kanazawa Station (Illumination)
* Day 2 (1) Kenrokuen Garden
* Day 2 (2) Kanazawa Castle Park
* Day 2 (3) Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District [This article]
* Day 2 (4) Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District (Light-up)
* Day 3 (1) Gokayama: Suganuma Gassho-zukuri Village
* Day 3 (2) Gokayama: Ainokura Gassho-zukuri Village
* Day 3 (3) Kanazawa Station

[Travel Date]
2016.05.14-16

[Main Part]

Following the previous post about Kanazawa Castle Park, I moved to the area of Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District.

Yaoyorozu Honpo

First, I stopped by Yaoyorozu Honpo, which was adjacent to Kazue-machi Chaya District.

Yaoyorozu Honpo is a combined shop which sells souvenirs and other general merchandise. There is a doll of Hyakuman-san, a local mascot character of Ishikawa Prefecture.

Here is Hyakuman-san.

Hyakuman-san was created in March 2015 to promote the Hokuriku Shinkansen.

Kazue-machi Chaya District

Kazue-machi Chaya District is one of the three largest Chaya Districts in Kanazawa, along with Higashi Chaya District and Nishi Chaya District – Chaya is a traditional place of feasts and entertainment, where geisha (traditional female Japanese entertainers) have been entertaining people by performing dances and playing Japanese traditional musical instruments since the Edo period.

A scene of an alley.

There are two famous slopes in Kazue-machi Chaya District.

The first one is Akari-zaka.

The other is Kuragari-zaka.

There was a huge tree and pretty torii gates near Kuragari-zaka.

View of Asanogawa Ohashi Bridge.

There are Cafes, Chaya and fancy Japanese-style restaurants along Asagogawa River.

Higashi Chaya District

Higashi Chaya District was developed as a public Chaya District in 1820 and is the largest Chaya District in Kanazawa. Now, it becomes one of the most famous tourist spots in Kanazawa, along with Kenrokuen Garden and Tsuzumi-mon at Kanazawa Station.

Here are some photos of the main street in Higashi Chaya District.

Kaikaro is the largest chaya house in Kanazawa.

The chaya house is open to public during the day.

Shima is another chaya house, which is open to public.

Unfortunately, only compact sized cameras are allowed to bring in, so I just took photos of the exterior.

View from a cafe (on the second floor).

Early dinner.

Other snaps.

I planned to see light-up in Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District and had some time before the evening. So, I took a break at a cafe.

Then, I walked through Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District to watch the night illumination and I will write about it in the next article.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District as part of Day 2. If you want to feel the atmosphere of Kanazawa as a castle town, Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District should be suitable places 🙂

In the next article, I will write about the light-up in Higashi Chaya District and Kazue-machi Chaya District.

[Map]