Adventures in Kanazawa: Sweet and Plate Making with Ninja Star Throwing - Full-Day Tour

Starting from Kanazawa Station at, you will first head towards Omicho Market. Enjoy the contrast between the modern high-rises with the older buildings as we walk towards the market. This area is the main fish market for the center of the city and has lots of stores to pursue. Feel free to grab a quick bite to eat as we walk through the market.

After passing through, we will soon arrive at our first activity, the gold leaf experience. This area is famous for its production of gold leaf which is gold hammered to within 1/10,000th of a millimeter and is a UNESCO culturally intangible property. At this first experience, you can choose the shape of plate you wish to make and are guided by the experienced workers at the shop. When you’re finished you can even take it home as a souvenir!

After packing up your gold leaf plate, we will walk the back way through Kazuemachi, a geisha district, and cross an old Edo style bridge. From there we will walk some back streets to Teramachi, an area that used to be the center of religious activity in the city. Finally, we will arrive at Higashichayamachi, the famous tea house and geisha district. Here there is time for you to shop and eat lunch, with various recommendations from your guide.

The next activity for the day is Japanese Sweet Making. Near the famous Kenrokuen Garden, this activity will have you make Japanese sweets that can be eaten alone or with matcha. You will make three different types of sweets that change depending on the season. This activity is led by a Japanese sweet chef where you can feel the electric atmosphere of being able to make some of the famous designs that are found in most of the common tea ceremonies.

As we head towards the next activity, we will be stopping at a few famous, but not usually visited sites by foreign travelers. Squeezed in between Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa Castle and the 21st Century Museum is Ishiura Shrine. This small shrine complex has a little bit of everything. There is a torii tunnel, beautiful pond and other interesting natural and religious things to see.

Continuing along Honda-dori, we will then stop outside at the D.T. Suzuki Museum. Even without entering the museum you can enjoy a stunning and tranquil modernist Zen pool. D.T. Suzuki was a writer who is credited with bringing Japanese Zen Buddhism to the world and you can definitely feel inner peace looking out at the pool. Directly next to the pool is Shofukaku, an Edo-period style Japanese garden that had been privately maintained for decades.

After further walking down this street and crossing the clear water of the Daigawa River, we will enter another Teramachi. Here we will see some of the old temples and even the famous “Ninja Temple”. Passing through some of the narrow streets evokes a time lost to the modernization across the bridge.

Not so far from this area is the final activity of the tour, the Ninja Museum, in the Nishi-chaya District. This area was and is home to some of the geisha in the city and preserve the feel of the old times on this street. The Ninja Museum, a small and humble building on this street, is near the main road and entrance of this district. In here you can learn about and see different weapons and attire that ninjas would wear. Downstairs from the museum is the ninja star throwing experience. You can try the classic ninja star(kuruma-shuriken) or the stick style (bo-shuriken) by throwing them at a target. The technique can be a bit difficult but after a few tries you will feel like a real ninja.

The last part of the tour includes walking across the river to Katamachi, the nighttime and youth hub of the city. We will walk around some of the older areas of the city that combine artwork with the vibes of the 1970’s. After exploring the area a bit and learning about the possible food and shopping options, feel free to stay and have dinner or go back to the station by bus with the tour guide.