Here, plain is chic. The Kinokuniya Bookstore and Maruzen Bookstore are both located along Korinbo, not far from the Korinbo 109 Building. The prices are excellent for netsuke, geisha combs, and old bento lunch boxes. Their collection of irori no jizai kagi, ornate fireplace pot hangers, is museum quality. Everything in the shop is made from string, including everything from panda bears to traditional decorations for wedding gifts.
Prices are reasonable, and the souvenirs are authentic.
Food Kanazawa is famous for its gourmet cuisine called kaga no aji. The main ingredients are crisp mountain vegetables, locally caught freshwater fish, and seafood from the Japan Sea. Kanazawa became famous for its foods because of the discriminating tastes of the Maeda clan, who instructed its many cooks to create new and exciting dishes. The best known include jibu, a hearty stew often made with duck, sea bream, or chicken combined with fresh vegetables and thickened with sudarefu, a wheat gluten particular to Kanazawa. Gori includes various dishes made with this local river fish, but a favorite is tsukudani, or gori boiled with spices and served with sake.