Nagamachi samurai district

Nagamachi, a few minutes' walk from the city centre, is where Kanazawa's samurai families lived. Its narrow lanes are lined with ochre earthen walls topped with tiles, wooden gates and garden trees leaning over, and a small canal runs along one side.

It is quieter than the teahouse districts and gives calm, textured frames — the curve of a lane, a gate, the water. In winter the walls are wrapped in straw mats to protect them from the snow, a detail found in few other places.

Most of the houses are private homes: keep to the lanes, leave gates and gardens alone, and keep voices down. One residence is open to visitors as a museum.