Kanazawa is the centre of culture and commerce in the Hokuriku region and is a favourite getaway for the Japanese.

The whole town has been well preserved through the ages and it feels like a modern-day museum with all its castles, geishas and gardens.

Visit Higashi Chaya, where you will find kimono-clad geishas serving green tea in the courtyards of teahouses during the daytime, or Kenrokuen garden, which gives weary travellers a space to rest or meditate under cherry blossoms and red azaleas.

Most of Kanazawa has remained unchanged for centuries, and here you can see where and how Samurai warriors lived from the 16th to the 19th centuries.