Japan’s Kanazawa draws more Western tourists than East Asians

Travel & Leisure

Sushi-making, tea ceremony, kintsugi pottery repair top visitors’ must-do list

Kenrokuen, a garden in Kanazawa, a city on the Sea of Japan coast northwest of Tokyo, welcomes more visitors from the North America, Europe and Australia than from East Asia. (Photo by Takuji Kunishida)

TAKUJI KUNISHIDA

September 14, 2025 13:43 JST

KANAZAWA, Japan — Japan’s flood of international travelers is dominated by visitors from East Asia, who account for two-thirds of arrivals. Yet Kanazawa, a coastal city on the Sea of Japan in Ishikawa prefecture, tells a different story.