Last day in Kanazawa and we set off early, as usual, via Omicho fish market, on our way to the Kazuemachi Chaya district.

This area sits alongside the river, offering a quieter more atmospheric experience of old Kanazawa with its narrow streets.

Kazuemachi is one of Kanazawa’s traditional tea house entertainment districts where geiko (geisha) still entertain with music, dance and games.

Kazuemachi’s wooden buildings, cherry trees, and riverside location create a charming atmosphere.

We decided to continue with our riverside walk and came across one of Japan’s infamous signs regarding the ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ include random ones regarding not setting off fireworks after a certain time and not feeding the birds.

Our next stop took us to Kurando Terashima’s, a traditional samurai house. Here we got a true insight into how they lived, dined and entertained and experienced a tea ceremony in a 5 tatami mat room.

The garden is a true ‘stroll garden’ with a central pond and a three layer, nine ring pagoda. As the pond was not actually filled with water, the owner named his library ‘Kansentei’ meaning dry spring house.

The garden was truly charming and like so many other Japanese gardens had so many clever designs to make you feel the area was larger than it truly was.

Time for Michelle to enjoy her matcha tea with dried sweets in the shape of the Terashima family crest.

From there we headed on to the D T Suzuki Museum, dedicated to the Zen philosopher, this park and museum offered a peaceful environment and featured a serene water mirrored garden.

The museum grounds and adjoining park were beautiful in the sunlight and we spent an enjoyable time chatting to a Japanese man who is a regular visitor to the city and who talked about how special the place was.

We then walked back into the centre, past our first Christmas tree of the year and went for a coffee break and rest.

Early evening we went out for tempura and some drinks to help it down.

After a fantastic meal, we returned to the city’s Kenrokuen gardens to watch a special orchestral performance put on only a few times a year to coincide with the festive evening lights.

The park and grounds looked amazing under the lights and created the most incredible reflections on the lake.

At precisely 7pm a lone violinist came out to perform, creating the most magical of atmospheres, one we won’t forget in a long time and made us appreciate what a wonderful time we have had in Kanazawa and Japan.

Tomorrow we return to Tokyo for our last full day in Japan, before we fly on to Auckland on Monday evening.