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Kanazawa Tour: Gold Leaf, Japanese Sweets & Ninja Stars
10/10
10 out of 10Features
- Free cancellation available
- 1d
- Mobile voucher
- Instant confirmation
Overview
- Make a beautiful gold leaf plate that you can take home and display or use
- See both Kazuemachi and Higashi-chaya Geisha/Teahouse District
- Make a variety of delicious Japanese mochi sweets
- Tour the backway to the Nishi-chaya District
- Learn more about ninjas and try two different types of throwing stars
Activity location
- Kanazawa
- Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Meeting/Redemption Point
- Japan, 石川県金沢市木ノ新保町1 Kanazawa Station | The meetup point is outside of the Shinkansen ticket gates, in front of the information center. If you are heading out from the gates, look forward and to the right and you will see a large ‘?’ inside of a circle, which is the sign under which we will be meeting. For those coming from outside the station, you will find this sign immediately inside of the East Entrance of Kanazawa Station. You may wait nearby there until the tour begins at 8:30 A.M. Be sure to look for the guide wearing a Snow Monkey Resorts tour tag.
- Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
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Kanazawa Tour: Gold Leaf, Japanese Sweets & Ninja Stars
- 1d
- English
What's included, what's not
- English speaking guide
- Gold Leaf Experience
- Japanese Sweets Making Experience
- Ninja Museum Entry Free and Shuriken Experience
- Lunch
- Accommodation
What you can expect
Starting from Kanazawa Station at 08:30, 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 centre of the city and has lots of stores to pursue. After passing through, we will soon arrive at our first activity, the gold leaf experience.
Kanazawa is famous for its production of gold leaf which is gold hammered to within 1/10,000th of a millimetre 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.
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. Finally, we will arrive at Higashichayamachi, the famous tea house and geisha district, and learn about the history of the area.
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 atmosphere of being able to make some of the famous designs that are found in most of the common tea ceremonies.
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.
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 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 1970s. 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.
Location
Activity location
- Kanazawa
- Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Meeting/Redemption Point
- Japan, 石川県金沢市木ノ新保町1 Kanazawa Station | The meetup point is outside of the Shinkansen ticket gates, in front of the information center. If you are heading out from the gates, look forward and to the right and you will see a large ‘?’ inside of a circle, which is the sign under which we will be meeting. For those coming from outside the station, you will find this sign immediately inside of the East Entrance of Kanazawa Station. You may wait nearby there until the tour begins at 8:30 A.M. Be sure to look for the guide wearing a Snow Monkey Resorts tour tag.
- Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan