Kanazawa Tea Culture: Tea Rooms In and Around Kenroku-en

The castle park: Gyokusen'inmaru

Cross the bridge by the Ishikawa-mon gate from Kenroku-en into Kanazawa Castle Park, and head for the Gyokusen'inmaru garden, a restored daimyo garden of ponds and stone walls set in a hollow below the castle. Its rest house, Gyokusen-an, serves matcha and wagashi facing the pond, and it is often quieter than the tea houses inside Kenroku-en.

Higashi Chaya and the other teahouse districts

The word chaya can mislead. In Kanazawa it refers to the houses where geisha entertained guests, not to tea shops. The houses were gathered into dedicated districts from the early nineteenth century, and three survive: Higashi Chaya on the east bank of the Asano River, the smaller Kazuemachi just across the river, and Nishi Chaya south-west of the centre, beyond the Sai River.

In Higashi Chaya, Shima is a teahouse built in 1820 and preserved as an Important Cultural Property. You can walk through the brightly coloured guest rooms upstairs and take matcha with a sweet in a room overlooking the inner garden. Many other old wooden buildings in the district now hold cafes and shops where a bowl of matcha is easy to find. In the evening, performances still go on behind closed doors, so keep your voice down and do not block the doorways for photos.

Sweets to pair with your tea

The sweet comes before the tea, and in Kanazawa it deserves as much attention. Look for namagashi, soft fresh sweets shaped and coloured for the month, and rakugan, dry pressed sweets made from rice flour and sugar that melt on the tongue. Morihachi, a confectioner that traces its history to the early seventeenth century, is best known for Chosei-den, a rakugan once made for the Maeda lords. Wagashi shops across the city change their displays with the seasons, so a morning browse is a good way to see what is in season.

When to go

• Spring brings plum blossoms and then cherry blossoms to Kenroku-en in early April.
• Early summer is green and quieter, with irises along the garden streams.
• Autumn maples turn in mid to late November, and gardeners hang the yukitsuri rope supports over the pines from early November.
• Winter is the most atmospheric: snow on the pines, yukitsuri in place, and a hot bowl of tea feels earned.

Getting there and practical tips

The Hokuriku Shinkansen runs from Tokyo to Kanazawa in about two and a half to three hours. From Kyoto or Osaka, take the Thunderbird limited express to Tsuruga and change to the Hokuriku Shinkansen. From Kanazawa Station, city buses reach Kenroku-en in a short ride, and Higashi Chaya is walkable from the garden.

You will sit on tatami, so wear clean socks and clothes you can kneel or sit cross-legged in. Remove rings and bracelets before handling a tea bowl, eat the sweet first, and ask before taking photos inside tea rooms.

Plan your trip

Start at Kenroku-en when it opens, take tea at Shigure-tei mid-morning, cross into the castle park for Gyokusen'inmaru, then walk to Higashi Chaya for the afternoon. For more on the garden itself, read our Kenroku-en guide, and if you would like to see the teahouse district in kimono, our Higashi Chaya kimono guide explains how to plan it.