Temples and Townhouses Line the Road Through the Utatsuyama Temple Area in Kanazawa

Early in the seventeenth century, the lord of the Kaga domain had all of the temples that were scattered throughout Kanazawa, the seat of his domain, brought together in three areas. One of these was at the foot of Utatsuyama (Mount Utatsu) in the northeastern part of the city, on a slope beyond where the Higashi Chaya entertainment district was later built. This area has been designated an “important preservation district for groups of historic buildings.” The narrow road through the area is lined with both temples and townhouses, presenting a streetscape rarely seen elsewhere in Japan. One of the old houses in the district has been converted into a cafe and gallery. The cafe space on the first floor features the building’s antique fittings and a large atrium open all the way to the roof, allowing customers to see an example of Japan’s traditional wooden-frame architecture.

(Originally published in Japanese. Created in cooperation with Kanazawa Cable Television.)