Kanazawa, to the centre-west of Honshu, Japan’s main island, is a place imbued with Japanese tradition and culture. This prosperous town, set in the land of the Samurai warrior, with its proud gourmet traditions, is a magnet for tourists.

Kanazawa, with almost 500,000 inhabitants, is less well known abroad than either Tokyo or Kyoto, yet is one of Japan’s most attractive cities. It owes its reputation to three key advantages: its geographical location, its history and its modernity. Its location is a key draw. The town, three hours by train north of Kyoto and bordered by the rivers Saigawa and Asano, has its back to the Japanese Alps and looks out over the Sea of Japan. Its past also works in its favour. It was governed for more than three centuries by a clan of Samurais and has retained a fine historical heritage, clustered around a remodelled feudal castle. The town centre, which was spared by the bombing of the last war and which exudes Kaga-yuzen tradition (painted cloth for kimonos) has a district of houses made of wood and earth, formerly inhabited by Samurais, as well as an area of geisha houses. Almost everywhere you go there are restaurants serving cuisine based on seafood, sourced at the famous Omi-ichiba (the local market). And you will also find tradition at the Kenrokuen, regarded as one of the three most famous gardens in Japan!

But the town has changed and developed with time. It is a shopping capital; 2004 saw the opening of the remarkable 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. It cossets its travellers in the futuristic station with its famous Tsuzumi gate, while they wait for the Shinkansen (high speed train) due to start in 2014.