"They Left Out the Notoriously Overpriced Market and Picked Kenrokuen Instead": Japanese Viewers Push Back on Hokuriku's "Disappointing Spots" List
「ボッタクリで有名な近江町市場が無くて兼六園が…」——北陸「がっかり観光地10選」への日本人の反論
By Rakutaro · Tokyo, Japan
A Japanese ranking of 10 supposedly disappointing Hokuriku sights, including Kenrokuen Garden and Toujinbo, drew 117 comments read here, and the single most-liked one (81 likes) doesn't even defend the places, it questions the list itself: "They left out Omicho Market, notorious for overpricing tourists, and put Kenrokuen on here instead?" From there Japanese viewers correct the video site by site: Kanazawa Castle's absent main keep is public knowledge if you research first, and its wall-construction displays and step-free access are the actual draw; the Tateyama mountain wall from Amaharashi Coast is spectacular on a clear day; Toujinbo's cliffs are a rare columnar-jointed rock formation best understood from the sightseeing boat. Not every complaint gets waved off, though — one Kanazawa resident's own pick for the city's real disappointment is a completely different spot the video never mentions.
“They left out Omicho Market, notorious for overpricing tourists, and put Kenrokuen on here instead? That's disappointing in itself...”
ボッタクリで有名な近江町市場が無くて、兼六園が有るのは心外...
Places named in this article
- Kenrokuen GardenKanazawa, Ishikawa
The fix for "just a garden": go for a specific season. Plum and cherry in spring, irises in early summer, autumn colour, and yukitsuri snow-rope trees in winter (16 likes).
- Kanazawa CastleKanazawa, Ishikawa
No original main keep, lost to a lightning fire in 1602, but commenters say the wall-construction and pillar-joinery displays are the real draw, plus barrier-free access with few stone steps (24 likes).
Sources: pref.ishikawa.lg.jp — checked 2026-09-15
- Amaharashi CoastTakaoka, Toyama
The Tateyama mountain range rising over 3,000 metres like a wall from the coastline, weather-dependent and "spectacular" when it clears (35 and 37 likes).
- ToujinboSakai, Fukui
Rare columnar-jointed andesite cliffs; commenters say to view them from the sightseeing boat, where the vertical column structure becomes clear (12 likes).
- Myoryu-ji (Ninja Temple)Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Not in the video's list, but one Kanazawa commenter names this as their actual disappointment in the city, citing condescending guide staff (19 likes, as of the comments).
Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.
FAQ
- Is Kenrokuen Garden worth visiting?
- Yes, if you time it to a season. Kenrokuen is built to change through the year, with plum and cherry blossoms in spring, irises in early summer, fresh green in summer, autumn colour in fall, and rope-tied yukitsuri pine branches in winter (16 likes). One regular visits every late autumn specifically to catch both the autumn leaves and the yukitsuri at once.
- Why doesn't Kanazawa Castle have a main keep?
- No, and Japanese commenters say that is not new information. The keep was struck by lightning and burned down in 1602 and was never rebuilt; what stands today is a modern reconstruction of the surrounding turrets, storehouse and gate. Commenters say the castle's real draw is inside anyway: displays on traditional wall-construction and pillar-joining techniques, plus barrier-free access with few stone steps (24 likes).
Sources: pref.ishikawa.lg.jp — checked 2026-09-15
- Is Toujinbo worth seeing if it's "just a cliff"?
- Yes, the video undersells it. Toujinbo's cliffs are columnar-jointed andesite, a rare rock formation you can barely see anywhere else in Japan, and the structure is easiest to understand from the sightseeing boat that runs along the base of the cliffs, where the vertical columns become obvious (12 likes).
- Is Noto Peninsula still worth visiting?
- Not fully, for now. Noto is less overrated than it is simply still recovering: as one commenter notes, the Noto Railway ran only as far as Anamizu, with the line beyond that not yet restored. Check current train and road status before planning a Noto trip.
Is Kaga Onsen Worth It? "The Station Front Isn't an Onsen Town": Japanese Visitors on Yamanaka, Katayamazu and the Tsuruga Transfer
“Stations like Kaga-Onsen and Awara-Onsen push "onsen" in their names, but the station front isn't an onsen town. If you know somewhere like Gero Station on the Takayama Line, where an atmospheric onsen town starts right outside the station, it's a bit of a letdown. From Nagoya you just end up going to Gero Onsen.”
Read this roundupThis is one of 1 local roundups for Kanazawa. See them all →
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What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 117 of 141 comments
How you feel about it depends on the person. I love Hokuriku and go several times a year. The view of the Tateyama mountain range from Amaharashi Coast in particular is out of this world.
感じ方は人それぞれ。 私は北陸大好きで年に何度も行きます。 特に雨晴海岸からの立山連峰は絶品だと思う。
Amaharashi Coast: mountains over 3,000 metres rising up like a wall is a breathtaking sight. If you got to see it, you're lucky.
雨晴海岸、3000m級の連峰が壁のように壮大にそびえたつ風景は圧巻です。見ることができた人は、幸運ですね?
I went to Kanazawa Castle and had a great time, the displays on wall-construction methods and how the pillars are joined were really interesting. They've put real effort into barrier-free access too, with few stone steps, so it's on the easier side to get around. As for there being no main keep, that's something you'd know if you looked it up beforehand, so I just think it's a case of not doing your research.
金沢城にいきましたが、壁の作り方や柱の組み方が展示されていてめちゃくちゃ楽しかったです。 バリアフリーにも力入っていて、石段も少なく行きやすい方だと思います。 天守が無いのは事前に調べれば分かることなので単に調査不足だと思いますね・・・
Kenrokuen is plum and cherry blossoms in spring, the iris garden in early summer, fresh greenery in summer, autumn leaves in fall, and yukitsuri snow-rope trees in winter, a garden that lets you feel every season. I go every year in late autumn myself, so I get to enjoy both the autumn leaves and the yukitsuri at once. As for Kanazawa Castle, it might have been better if they'd kept calling it Ishikawa-mon Gate the way it used to be, going by its current scale! There used to be Kanazawa University inside it too, it was a real student hangout back then!
兼六園は春は梅・桜。 初夏は花菖蒲園。 夏は新緑。 秋は紅葉。 冬は雪吊りと。 四季を感じさせてくれる庭園です。 毎年私は秋🍂の終盤に行くので紅葉🍁と雪吊りとふたつの季節を味わってます。 金沢城に関しては昔のまま石川門と呼んでいた方がよかったぐらいの規模ですね！ 昔は中には金沢大学が建ってましたし。学生の溜まり場でしたね！
The most disappointing sightseeing spot in Kanazawa, for me, is Myoryu-ji (the so-called Ninja Temple). It's staffed almost entirely with condescending, high-and-mighty guides, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
金沢の一番の残念な観光地は妙立寺(通称・忍者寺）です。とにかく上から目線の偉そうなスタッフばかりで気分が悪くなります。
The 21st Century Museum, it was mostly artworks I couldn't make sense of.
21世紀美術館 よく分からない作品ばかりだった
The point about Tsuruga's red brick warehouse, I get it. But I have way too many objections to the rest. Toujinbo is columnar-jointed andesite, a rock formation you can barely see anywhere else, and seeing how it was formed makes sense once you view it by sightseeing boat from the sea. That 25-metre drop isn't just a cliff, the fact that it's a formation of vertical columns is what makes it valuable. Give it a bit of study before you talk about it. As for Noto, it's less disappointing than it is just heartbreaking right now as a sightseeing destination, it'll be a long time before it's back. You can get as far as Anamizu on the Noto Railway, but recovery beyond that is still a long way off. Go back to Noto someday.
敦賀の赤レンガ倉庫の指摘は理解する。しかし、他は異議があり過ぎ。東尋坊は、安山岩の柱状節理という他ではなかなか見ることができない奇岩。遊覧船から海から見るとその成り立ちが理解できる。大池がただの25ｍの崖ではなく、それが垂直な柱になっていることが貴重。少しは勉強してから語るべきだ。 残念というかお気の毒というか、能登が観光地としては当分立ち直れない。能登鉄道で穴水までは行けたけれど、そこから先の復旧はまだまだ先。二度と能登に行こう！