Our second and last day in Kanazawa was spent mostly shopping and exploring the Naga-machi District - another preserved area of the city, where there are former samurai homes.
First on the list was to visit one of the local shopping malls, specifically to spend a bit more time perusing the Kanazawa Tokyu Hands. Not being rushed to catch a train this time allowed us to find cool stationery, browse kitchenware, look through books and board games, and even check out healthcare products. With so much globalization, there weren't too many items that I didn't recognize from stores in North America - I guess that's a good thing? Some of the uniquely Japanese products were niche items like tamagoyaki pans, tiny stationery supplies, and incense-related items.
After we got our fill of indoor shopping, we headed over to the samurai area, Naga-machi District. Similar to Higashi Chaya District, we found lots of signage around the area, and buildings looked like they had been preserved or renovated to match historical architecture. The homes looked different from Higashi Chaya District - many were protected by an outer wall, and it was as if these houses were built together in a compound since the outer walls connected perfectly. Some of these compounds even had a small moat around the outer wall!
When walking around the backs of these houses, security seemed much more lax - sliding doors opened to what they use now as garage space. My guess is that after the buildings were no longer used by samurai, the compounds were divided up and roads were built between rows of buildings. There was no point in erecting new walls around each row, so they kept whatever walls they could, and tried to preserve the look and feel of the area as they repurposed the structures. A lot of the buildings continue to be used as residential homes, while others are shops and restaurants. We were lucky to pop into a few shops that preserved the interior, and admired the woodwork and spacious interior that must have been extremely luxurious when initially constructed.
Food today was all experienced in Naga-machi District - we tried desserts and coffee at Isotope cafe, grabbed some drinks at another cafe, and managed to find a spot at an izakaya for dinner. My suggestion is that if there's an izakaya you want to try, call them at least a few days ahead of time to make a reservation (many don't have online booking). Note that some may not be quite as friendly to foreigners - check reviews.
The feeling of luxurious spaciousness does make Kanazawa stand out from other Japanese cities we've visited. Where other cities are built up due to lack of space, Kanazawa is relatively low-rise in comparison. This is noticeable immediately as soon as you look at their train station - it is not many stories tall, with a basement filled with bento boxes, and a top floor filled with restaurants, and many floors of shops in between, like other major cities. Instead, if you look at the main entrance, you'll see that it only has one floor of shops, and the rest is for train platforms. There is a second and third floor, but their footprint is a fraction of what other cities have. The train station doesn't connect to an expansive local network of subway lines, but it does have a bus terminal. As you explore the city, there are high-rise towers, but they aren't densely packed together and competing to be the tallest.
Tomorrow, we'll be heading to Tokyo for our last few days in Japan, and riding the Shinkansen!
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