Once inhabited by samurai, this attractive, well-preserved district (Nagamachi Buke Yashiki) framed by two canals features winding streets lined with tile-roofed mud walls. Nomura Samurai House, though partly transplanted from outside Kanazawa, is worth a visit for its decorative garden.

Towards Sai-gawa, Shinise Kinenkan offers a peek at a former pharmacy and, upstairs, a moderate assortment of local traditional products. If the flowering tree made entirely of candy gives you a sweet tooth, slake it at wagashi (Japanese sweet) shops. Tarō, near the Nomura Samurai House, makes unusual flavours of yōkan (bean-paste gelatin) – our favourite is choco. Murakami, across the canal, makes fukusamochi (red-bean paste and pounded rice in a crêpe) and kakiho (kinako, ie soybean flour, rolled in kurogoma, which are black sesame seeds).

In a nonhistoric building just outside Nagamachi (about 250m from the Nomura Samurai House), Nagamachi Yūzen-kan displays some splendid examples of Kaga yūzen kimono-dyeing and demonstrates the process. Enquire ahead about trying the silk-dyeing process yourself (¥4000).