E-Bike Cycling with Guided Tour of Kanazawa Main and Kenrokuen

Kanazawa Station

Appreciate the giant glassed-in dome is also beautiful — so stunning in fact, that it was chosen as one of the World’s 14 Most Beautiful Train Stations by US travel magazine “Travel & Leisure” in a 2011 online edition. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

10 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kazuemachi Chayagai

Kazue-machi is an old geisha district located along the river between Asanogawa Ohashi Bridge and Naka-no Hashi Bridge. Gaisha are traditional, female Japanese entertainers, whose skills include performing various Japanese arts, such as classical music and dance. It is one of the three geisha districts of Kanazawa. Chaya is a traditional place of feasts and entertainments, where geisha perform dances and play Japanese traditional musical instruments, such as the shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument), bamboo flute, and drum. Still now, many chaya houses and restaurants are located in this neighborhood, and people may hear the sound of the shamisen from the twilight time. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

30 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kuragarizaka

After passing through the precincts of Kuboichi Shrine, you will find a "Kuragari" (means dark) slope that leads quietly to the Hanamachi. In the past, the hill was used by Owari-machi masters to commute to the teahouse district to avoid being seen by the public. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

5 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kuboichi Ototsurugigu Shrine

The shrine is located in Owari-cho, where the streets of stately merchant houses still remain, and is a historic shrine that is believed to be the birthplace of the market in Kanazawa. The stone stairway leading up the hill past the shrine grounds to the main shopping street is called "Yomogari-zaka," or "dark slope," and is a famous sightseeing spot. As the name implies, it is dark even in the daytime, and is full of emotion and old-fashioned scenery. The birthplace of Kyoka Izumi, a great writer, is nearby, and it is said that she often played there as a child. A monument to a poem written by Kyoka has been erected in the precincts of the shrine in connection with him. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

10 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

This slope runs parallel to the "Kuragari dark slope" leading from Owari-cho to Kazue-cho. It was named by the writer Hiroyuki Itsuki, and his words are inscribed on a marker. He named the slope "Akari-zaka" (means bright) in memory of Kyoka, who wrote beautiful works that seemed to light up the dark night. Akari-zaka also means "uphill" in Japanese. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

5 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Sotobori Park Hakuchoro

Sotobori Park Swan Road is a path of water, greenery and contemplation built on the site of Kanazawa Castle's outer moat, also known as "Swan Moat", which was reclaimed in the Taisho era. Famous sculptures line the path, including swans and other Kanazawa-related figures such as Maeda Toshiie, Muro Saisei, Izumi Kyoka and Tokuda Shusei. You'll find fireflies here in June, when the area is full of families with children. During summer, you can talk a beautiful walk from Kanazawa Castle Park to Kenrokuen, stopping in the shade of the trees to cool off. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

10 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kenrokuen Garden

Appreciate one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. "Kenroku" means a garden combining the six attributes of a perfect garden. As a strolling-style landscape garden, it incorporates fancy designs in every corner, achieving peerless scenery in each season. The guide will explain deep expertise about each popular spot in the garden. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

1 Hours • Admission Ticket Included

Kanazawa Castle Ishikawa Gate

Ishikawa-mon gate has been designated as an Important National Cultural Asset. The present gate was reconstructed in 1788. It used to be the rear gate to Kanazawa Castle, and was constructed in a box-shape style to connect two turrets and two gatehouses. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

5 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kanazawa Castle Park

Once the home of the Maeda family, who governed the Kaga Domain – present day Ishikawa and Toyama – for over 280 years, Kanazawa Castle is an essential part of the city’s history. Many features of the castle including the original castle tower were destroyed in two major fires over its long history, and many of them have been rebuilt. During the time of the Maeda family, Kanazawa Castle was surrounded by moats and had a fort function with loopholes for matchlocks on the outer wall in order to keep it secure from enemies. The beautiful white tiles that grace the roof are weathered lead and the walls made of white mortar with flat tiles attached to it. The stone walls vary in type throughout the castle and it is apparent that many of them were built in separate periods, with the oldest dating back more than 400 years ago. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

15 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kanazawa Castle Gojukken Nagaya

Gojukken Nagaya was designed to function as a store-house for weapons and as a castle wall for protection. If you look up, you can plain see the fine wood structures. Most of the wood pieces are fastened without nails and bolts. These wood pieces have holes and also prongs which stick out to match these holes. Wood pieces are put together using this technique, and reinforced with wooden wedges. The buildings in this reconstruction project are all built according to traditional Japanese architectural methods, using posts, beams, and strong walls. The strong walls are made by combining earthen walls, wooden posts and bars. As a result, this structure turned out to be very durable against earthquakes, too. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

5 Minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Gyokusen-immaru Garden

Appreciate Japanese traditional garden while sipping matcha green tea and taste fresh wagashi sweet at the Japanese-style tatami room in the tea house "Gyokusen'an". Wakita Naokata, vassal in the Kaga Clan, started designing and constructing the garden in the middle of the 17th century, and four generations carried on the landscaping of the garden. Naokata was born in Korea and raised by the Maeda family in Japan by a twist of fate. There are a large number of plants in the garden, including a huge Korean pentaphylla pine that Naokata and his father raised after they obtained the seed from Korea. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

30 Minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Nezumitamon

Connecting Oyama Jinja Shrine and Kanazawa Castle is the Nezumitamon Gate which opened its doors in 2020. The history of this bridge dates back to the early 17th century. In 2015 the reconstruction of Nezumitamon Bridge and Gate was confirmed in the Third Kanazawa Castle Park Development Project. In 1877 the Nezumitamon Bridge was demolished due to age and wear, and in 1884, a fire destroyed the gate. Both were reconstructed using historical records and today we can enjoy the beauty of the gate as it was 400 years ago. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

5 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Oyama Shrine

The shrine that enshrines Maeda Toshiie was moved to the present location in 1873. The main gate is a peculiar mix of traditional Japanese, Chinese, and European religious architectural elements. This gate, which was designated as Japan's important cultural assets, was completed in 1875. One of the highlights of Oyama Shrine is the garden in round-the-pond style with an artificial island and bridge in the images of old musical instruments, such as the biwa (Japanese short-necked fretted lute). You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

15 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art is a progressive museum situated in the center of Kanazawa. Entrances dotting the entire circumference of the round main building evoke its mission of being “a museum open to the world.” Inside the museum building, there are several permanent exhibits that remain popular with patrons. Quarterly temporary exhibits featuring domestic and international artists constitute the majority of the museum’s gallery space. The outdoor exhibits and surrounding lawns make the museum grounds feel akin to a family park. Interactivity is key to the museum experience, exemplified by art installations that purposefully double as jungle gyms. The museum further accommodates parents and children with an on-site nursery and kids’ studio. The indoor public zone, permanent installations, and outdoor exhibits are free of charge. Paid tickets are required for the temporary exhibitions. You will get Photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

5 Minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Ruins of Nagamachi Bukeyashiki

Nagamachi District, located near the center of town, was where the middle to high-ranking samurais lived – which is why it’s sometimes described as the city’s samurai district. ”Nagamachi District’s historical value lies in its unusual state of preservation. It has escaped large-scale fires, including the firebombing that damaged other large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka during World War II. Accordingly, it retains many features from the Edo period: narrow streets, a drainage and water supply system that remains in use, and restored samurai houses. Many of these residences maintain their original earthen walls (tsuchi-kabe), which are still covered in the winter with straw mats to protect them from frost and subsequent cracking. A walk through Nagamachi, where an Edo-period atmosphere still lingers, offers a glimpse into the heritage of Kanazawa and Japan. You will get photo shooting and live guidance by the local guide.

20 Minutes • Admission Ticket Free