It's always rainy in Kanazawa

… but that doesn’t make it any less pretty! The quaint port town on the Japanese Sea definitely has a lot of things to offer for a long weekend, regardless of the weather conditions.

Most notably, Kanazawa is famous for its flawlessly preserved neighborhoods from the Edo era. Whether it’s the Higashi Chaya District with its narrow alleys of dark wooden houses or the Nagamachi neighborhood (below) – it feels like you’re walking through a part of ancient Japan.

All throughout the city, a great number of trees feature very iconic support structures that tie the individual branches to a central pole. You guessed it, this is done mainly to ensure the trees’ perfect shape. Famed garden Kenroku-en is full of such rope work and without a doubt one of my favorite spots in Kanazawa. Even though late February isn’t exactly considered high season, it still did not fail to impress.

Lastly, when the weather rules out outdoor activities completely, Kanazawa is also home to a number of visual arts museums. Kanazawa 21 was completely packed at the time of our visit, but definitely worth getting in line for. One of Shiota Chiharu’s installations took me right back to the Mori museum which I visited in my first week in Tokyo.