10 Best Places in Kanazawa for Family Trips

Tedori Fish Land is a huge theme park featuring attractions such as an Ultraman Stadium, fishing pond, and amusement arcade. One of the highlights is the Ultraman stage show where you can watch heroic characters in action. There’s also an official Ultraman shop that’s a must for all fans of the series.

In the amusement park area, there are outdoor attractions such as go-carts and the Twin Dragon pirate ship. But even if the weather isn’t great, there are plenty of covered attractions too, including a Mystery Zone, Mysterious House, and a merry-go-round.

Myouryuji Temple (also known as "Ninja Temple") is laid with traps that make it seem like a ninja house. It was originally a prayer centre for the Kaga clan, but the complex architectural structure was designed in preparation for an attack by the Tokugawa Shogunate.

You can take a tour lasting about 40 minutes, with a guide explaining the maze-like main hall, including its pitfall-like offering box, hidden stairs under the floors, and a well used as a secret passageway to Kanazawa Castle. You’ll need to book ahead by telephone if you want to take advantage of this tour.

Located on a sand dune at the mouth of the Sai River near Kaneishi Port, Kenmin Seaside Park is a water park where you can observe nature, take a boat ride, have a barbecue, and enjoy a safe and exciting day out even if you’re travelling with small children. The shallow pool with its large slide is very popular with kids.

This is also one of Kanazawa's best bird-watching sites, with a bird forest making use of the natural terrain and a bird garden where you can observe the ecology of wild birds.

Dolls Museum, located in Kanazawa's Nishi Chaya District, was built in a teahouse and displays traditional dolls such as gosho dolls (dolls from the Imperial Court) and ichimatsu dolls (with flesh-coloured skin and glass eyes).

Visitors are divided into groups of 5-10 and have to take a guided tour around the museum, which lasts about 40 minutes. Tours are available in both Japanese and English. After viewing the exhibits, you can even try painting dolls. You can colour the kokeshi (wooden Japanese dolls), matryoshka, or amabie (dolls based on a legendary Japanese mermaid) to make your own hand-made souvenir.

The Noto Peninsula, jutting out into the clear Sea of Japan, is an idyllic route for a road trip with children. Mitsukejima, the huge rock that’s the symbol of Noto, is also known as Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) for its distinctive shape. Wajima's morning market, officially recognised as one of the 3 major morning markets in Japan, has more than 200 stalls you can tour with endless delicacies to sample.

If you’re travelling with children who love trains, take a trip on the Noto Railway. It only has 8 stations, but it’s a fascinating line. Hop on the Noto Satoyama Satoumi-go sightseeing train and you’ll be taken to the idyllic scenery of Noto's Satoyama-Satoumi, which is a designated World Agricultural Heritage Site.

Nomura-ke Samurai Residence is the only open house in Kanazawa’s Nagamachi area, where samurai culture and residences are preserved down to today. At this former residence of Nomura Denbei Nobusada, a vassal of Maeda Toshiie, you can observe the luxurious structure of the house from the peak period of the affluent Kaga domain and a gorgeous Japanese garden with many different stones skilfully arranged.

The garden is internationally renowned and attracts many visitors from abroad. In fact, it was awarded 3rd place in the Japanese garden category in the Journal of Japanese Gardening (a gardening magazine published in the United States).

Taito Station Kanazawa not only has the hottest games such as claw machines and music-based video games, but it’s also full of purikura (photo-sticker) machines where you can take crazy selfies either alone or as a group. With its bright and happy vibes, this is a great place for families to play together.

The entire building, from the basement to the 1st floor, is an amusement arcade chock full of character goods, stuffed toys and figures, as well as the most extensive selection of purikura machines in the region. It's only a few minutes' walk from Kanazawa’s famous Nomura-ke Samurai Residence, so for a change of pace, why not stop by after a day of sightseeing?

With the concept of being a museum that’s open to the city, like a park, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa is set in the heart of the city and is conveniently linked to the famous Kenrokuen gardens.

The circular building, which can be entered and exited from several directions, is made of glass and is itself a piece of art. The artwork on display is pretty stimulating stuff. Check out the "Swimming Pool", which gives the illusion of being underwater, or the "Green Bridge", an installation using plants. There’s also a kids' studio where little ones can take part in workshops.

Kanazawa Castle Park was created by developing the area that includes the site of Kanazawa Castle. The area is approximately 6 times the size of Tokyo Dome and has scattered buildings that recall the impressive history of the Kaga domain.

Highlights include the Ishikawa Gate and the Sanjikken Nagaya, both designated as Nationally Important Cultural Properties. It's also known as the "Museum of Stone Walls" for its natural stone masonry using advanced construction techniques. In 2015, Gyokusen’inmaru Park was redeveloped with some really impressive artistic landscaping.

SEGA Al Plaza Kanazawa is an amusement centre located in the Al Plaza Kanazawa complex. There’s a big car park here, so it’s ideal for stopping off during a road trip.

You’ll find a huge selection of claw machines with popular characters, stuffed toys and figures that everyone in the family will want to grab. There are also novelty items and exclusive goods at the SEGA shop. Whenever new popular figure toys are introduced in the claw machines, there’s such a hubbub that lots are drawn to determine who gets to play first.