#Eda85daysinJapan | Chapter 4 (Hokuriku) | Kanazawa - Higashi Chaya, Kazuemachi & Nishi Chaya

🗓️  16 May – 13 June 2026

📍 Higashi Chaya, Kazuemachi & Nishi Chaya

Kanazawa has three chaya districts: Higashi Chaya, Kazuemachi and Nishi Chaya.

Back in 1820 the Kaga domain officially gathered the teahouses into regulated quarters. That’s how Higashi and Nishi were set up — Higashi on the east side of the Asano River, Nishi on the west side of the Sai River. Kazuemachi is the smallest of the three and it really took shape later, from the Meiji period through the prewar years, just across the river from Higashi. The name comes from Tomita Kazue, a Kaga retainer whose residence was here. The old town name disappeared in 1970 and came back in 1999 — the first place in Japan to officially restore its former district name.

I went to Higashi after walking the Utatsuyama Temple District. It’s the one most people know, and yes it was crowded with tourists, but I still managed to walk around in peace. There are many small local shops and restaurants, and souvenir shops mixed in with the lattice-fronted teahouses.

Kazuemachi hid across the river. Much quieter. Narrow lanes, two little slopes people still talk about — Akari-zaka and Kuragari-zaka — and the writer Izumi Kyoka grew up nearby. I was hoping to bump into geishas, of course I didn’t.

Nishi Chaya has a very different vibe. It’s on the other side of town, near Teramachi. Like Higashi, it dates back to 1820. It burned in the great fire of 1880 and was rebuilt in the same teahouse style. I also visited the Kanazawa City Nishi Chaya Shiryokan Museum while I was there.

Higashi and Kazuemachi can be walked together. Nishi is its own walk. Same tradition, but they all feel different.