Ishikawa is drawing renewed international attention as travelers look beyond Japan’s most familiar destinations. The prefecture offers a distinctive combination of traditional craftsmanship, cultural heritage, regional cuisine, and hands-on experiences that remain deeply connected to local communities. Its growing appeal was further highlighted when BBC Travel included Ishikawa among its 20 best places to travel in 2026.
Kanazawa, the prefecture’s cultural capital, is just an easy bullet train ride from Tokyo. It’s a place where 26 traditional crafts hold official designation, a concentration of living artisan trades rarely found in a single city in the world. In 2009, UNESCO named Kanazawa a City of Crafts and Folk Art, a true celebration of the prefecture’s full craft heritage which spans silk dyeing to metalwork to lacquerware.
In Ishikawa, crafts themselves are the real itinerary. Kanazawa is one of the world’s leading producers of gold leaf, responsible for nearly 100 percent of Japan’s domestic production, a trade dating to the Edo era, when the ruling Maeda clan drew master craftsmen from across the country into the region. Visitors can step into still working gold leaf studios and watch sheets beaten thinner than paper, then even try the technique by their own hands.
A short walk away, Kaga Yuzen studios keep alive a dyeing technique developed in the 1600s, painterly depictions of flowers, birds, and landscapes rendered directly onto kimono silk, again where visitors can take part by dyeing a piece of their own. Kanazawa lacquerware utilizes the technique of dusting wet lacquer with gold or silver before it sets, and carries over 400 years of continuous practice. Add Kutani porcelain, known for its bold, jewel toned glazes, and Kaga Zogan metal inlay, originally developed for samurai swords and armor, and Kanazawa is truly discovered less in actual craft shops but rather through its living breathing studios and archives of artisanship.
North of Kanazawa, on the Noto Peninsula, that same living tradition carries even more weight. In 2024, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated the region. Two years on, local leaders are asking the world to do something simple: come back. Noto is home to Wajima nuri, a form of lacquerware recognized as one of Japan’s finest, built through a laborious, multi layered application process passed down across generations of artisan families, and to sake crafted by legendary toji, master brewers whose techniques are taught hand to hand rather than in any classroom. Many of the region’s breweries are operating again, in part through grassroots efforts like the Don’t Stop the Noto Sake project, which channels revenue directly back into earthquake damaged producers.
Visitors can stay in traditional farmhouse inns and join seasonal work like rice planting, with proceeds helping sustain both local families and the centuries old terraced paddies. Every reopened restaurant, every artisan workshop, every family run inn booked is a direct line of support to a region working to keep its cultural heritage alive at the exact moment it’s most at risk.
Ishikawa’s appeal lies not only in its scenery, but in the continuity of its cultural traditions. For travelers seeking experiences connected to local craftsmanship and communities, the prefecture offers an opportunity to engage with traditions that continue to shape everyday life.
About Ishikawa Travel
Ishikawa Travel is the official tourism information platform for Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The organization provides information about destinations, traditional crafts, food, accommodations, cultural experiences, transportation and travel planning throughout the prefecture.
Travelers and media representatives can visit ishikawatravel.jp/en for official destination information and updates. Travelers can also follow Instagram @visitishikawa for updates and inspiration about Ishikawa. For additional information, media representatives may contact info@trumarketing.com.