Back on the travelling front this morning, with a 6.45am subway train from Yokohama to Tokyo, followed by a Shinkansen bullet train via Nagano on to Kanazawa.

After a speedy 2hr train journey we travelled over 225 miles and arrived at our last destination of our Japan journey (save for our return to Tokyo).

Kanazawa our home for the next 3 nights is a beautiful city, known for its samurai history, stunning gardens and preserved Edo era districts. Plus not forgetting great sushi and Kanazawa curry.

After a quick turnaround at our new hotel to drop off our bags, we headed out to Kanazawa Castle, a must-see for history buffs (like us!).

We got to explore the reconstructed turrets, impressive gates and walls, along with the stunning castle gardens.

Our first stop was the Oyama Shinto Shrine.

The entry gate to the shrine was a peculiar mix of traditional Japanese, Chinese, and European religious architectural elements.

The surrounding gardens were peaceful and serene & well worth a visit, as we walked around the small ponds and Japanese gardens.

Kanazawa Castle is a large, partially restored building located adjacent to the celebrated Kenroku-en garden, which once formed the castle’s private outer garden.

It was the headquarters of Kaga Domain, ruled by the Maeda clan for 14 generations until the Meji restoration in 1871.

Having left Yokohama early, eating a modest breakfast of just bananas & coffee, our hunger was starting to get the better of us so we made a beeline for a traditional Kanazawa curry restaurant.

For the equivalent of £7, we got two types of curry, along with a miso soup and veggie sides plus a modest dessert of fruit and jelly.

As the temperature today was only 11c, the coldest we’ve experienced since leaving the UK, a hot filling lunch was just what we needed!

Following the lunch stop, we returned to ‘nature’ with a visit to the Kenrokuen Gardens. They are one of Japans most celebrated gardens so we spent the next couple of hours enjoying the ponds, bridges, trees and ‘moss’ gardens in this very tranquil place.

As sunset approached, we made our way to a cafe in one of the local department stores where we treated ourselves to coffee and cakes.

Whilst we were relaxing with our coffees, we spied a local camera crew filming a shop owner about his Kutani ware ceramics, which turns out to be what the city is most famous for.

Now that we are within 6 weeks of Xmas, the festive lights and trees have started to appear and we witnessed this in full effect on the Main Street in Kanazawa.

After an injection of caffeine we decided to go for a walk in the Nagamachi district famous as being a well preserved samurai quarter. Sadly we couldn’t make out much due to the lack of light (!) and plan to return tomorrow for a proper look around.

Our final stop was a brief visit to Omicho Market for fresh seafood and local sushi. We’d been told it was a great place for dinner, however when we arrived it looked like Wednesday must be a quiet one, as only a small selection of restaurants were open, so again we plan to return for lunch tomorrow.

After spending today in nature, we plan to visit the arts tomorrow with visits to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art to see the ‘swimming pool’ installation and DT Suzuki Museum which are close by to our hotel.