Higashi Chaya District

The Kaga domain gathered the teahouses into this district in 1820, as a place where geisha, called geiko or geigi in Kanazawa, entertained wealthy merchants with music, dance and games. Most of the houses with wooden lattices have become cafes, restaurants and shops, but some still operate as teahouses, and you can enter them only on the recommendation of a regular customer. According to the Kanazawa traditional arts association, the geigi still train and perform in the three districts today.

Two teahouses are open to visitors by day. Shima was built in 1820 and is a national Important Cultural Property: on the second floor, the guest floor, you see the rooms where the geisha performed, along with musical instruments, hair ornaments and serving ware. Kaikaro is, according to the tourism office, the largest teahouse building in Kanazawa, and a working teahouse that hosts guests in the evenings. By day you tour it among tatami mats woven with gold leaf and a red staircase in Wajima lacquer.

Kanazawa produces about 99 percent of Japan's gold leaf, according to the city's tourism office, and a sheet of gold leaf is about one ten-thousandth of a millimeter thin. The district has several shops run by gold leaf makers, and the gold leaf ice cream, soft serve topped with a whole sheet of gold leaf, started at the Hakuichi branch in the district. According to Hakuichi's website it costs ¥1,189.