Kanazawa is a beautiful city on the northeast coast of Japan's Honsu Island. The centre of the original town was the castle. While many castle towns in Japan had the castle placed to one side of the city, Kanazawa spread out concentrically from the castle site. The city is very wealthy from a cultural and economic viewpoint. There are numerous parks, shrines, and museums of the first order. The downtown is modern and walkable with numerous modern buildings with occasional ancient Bhuddist or Shinto shrines. For a Japanese retiree looking for a manageable city with extensive resources this would be a great choice. Obviously, retirement to Japan for non-Japanese would be very difficult, both from a legal and a social viewpoint. |