Kenrokuen Gardens, Samurai & Geisha Districts

Board your motorcoach and drive to Kenroku-en, one of the celebrated 'Great Gardens of Japan'. This 25-acre landscape garden was originally developed by the daimyo of Kanazawa Castle. Most of the garden was built during the late Edo Period. Kenroku-en boasts Japan's first fountain, a teahouse dating to 1774, and a pagoda donated to the Maeda clan by the great warlord Toyotomi. Continue to the Nagamachi District, once home to many of Kanazawa's samurai. Cross the Asano River to the Higashi Chayamachi, one of the city's four pleasure districts established in 1820 during the late Edo period. The district is home to traditional 'tea houses' where rich merchants and artisans held drinking parties and geisha performed. Explore the narrow streets and the two-story pleasure palaces. Board your motorcoach for the return drive to the ship.