We woke to a pleasant day in Kanazawa. We slept well, so we were ready for another day of exploring.

Kanazawa was an area with a strong Samurai past and today we visited a samurai house from the 1500’s and walked through a beautifully preserved neighborhood. Think ‘old houses with updated amenities’. It was just a short bus ride over from our hotel.

There is actually still a moat that surrounds the town. We made sure there weren’t any snipers with bows and arrows before crossing the bridges. You just never know…

The Samurai were known as fierce warriors, but were also providers for their family.

Quite interesting. By the way, the samurai armor weighed between 22 and 44 pounds. I’ve thus decided that I want to be a ninja instead. The outfit goes with all my other accessories and is much lighter.

Moving on, we made our way to the village. Many of the houses there are original from the 1500’s and are owned by individuals who’ve upgraded the interiors while maintaining the outer aesthetic.

Everyone was getting a little peckish, so that meant lunchtime. We traveled to a fish market that was attached to a food court. Wandering through we were amazed by the prices for the fresh crabs – some big ones came in at 40,000¥ or around $250.

We chose to go to a Kanazawa-style Curry Shop and enjoyed it very much. To order, you push the button for your selection, insert your money and a ticket prints. You give the ticket to the server, they give you a buzzer, you find a seat and they buzz you when it’s ready.

Sue and I both had the pork and rice curry and gobbled it up. The Kanazawa style curry is a distinct, hearty regional style with a thick, dark roux (almost chocolate-colored) that is very rich and delicious. The sauce covers a bed of rice, has a crispy breaded pork cutlet on top and a side of finely shredded cabbage to cut through the richness of the sauce. It was really unique and tasty.

We next visited the area of Yasue, home to some of the premier gold leaf artisans.

We had some time to walk around town to explore and to people watch.

Some of the gold leaf items were beautiful, a little expensive and too large for carry-on luggage. Some folks in our group did buy some small sheets of Gold leaf for crafting purposes.

We’ve been surprised to see how many people visit sites wearing traditional clothing. It’s mostly the women, but some men also participate. We’ve noticed that there are many kimono rental shops and they seem to do a very good business.

Just a little look around town.

Our final stop for the day was at a confectioner that’s been around for four hundred years. We got a lesson in making the sweet treats and then finished off with a cup of matcha and our treats.

In the evening, we had some time to ourselves and took advantage of it by doing nothing. We weren’t hungry after our delicious Japanese curry lunch; nor were we feeling the urge to explore. It felt good to just have a bit of a rest as we had been moving all day.

Wanting some pictures, I waited until it got dark and took a quick walk across the street to the train station to take a few photos while it was lit up.

I scurried back to the hotel. Ok…..it was more of a slow saunter…to relax. It sure felt good to rest our weary legs.

Next stop – Tokyo