Japan, Port of Call Kanazawa, tour to Eheiji Temple

We are sailing in July with Diamond Princess around Japan. One of the ports of call is Kanazawa. We'd love to visit the Eheiji Temple, but the only Princess tour is in Japanese. Does anyone has any suggestions for a local, reliable tour operator that might take us there? Neither of us speaks, reads, or understands Japanese. We can pick a different tour, but my husband would much prefer to visit the temple. Thanks!

If you google "Goodwill Guides, Japan" you will find that some are operating in Kanazawa. There is an e-mail address so you can contact them. (I'm sorry I don't know how to send a link.) My understanding is that they are amateur guides operating in the area they live in. There is no set fee, but you do need to cover their out-of-pocket costs such as transportation and lunch.

I am a member of Eihei-ji Temple, (through the Tokyo branch, Chokoku-ji) and I spent 5 days there for meditation and lectures when I was young. I think it would be a very interesting and meaningful shore excursion.

I hope you can arrange this and will have a wonderful cruise overall.

Kate

Hi,

We did the Japan season last year on Sun Princess and used the services of a Goodwill Guide. We are returning to Japan again this year, probably on the same cruise as you.

We loved Kanazawa and enjoyed the services of our guide.

This time, we are going out alone as we prefer it. We love to walk and always found the Japanese people so willing to help you.

Good luck with the guide, but I would suggest you apply soon.

Yes, you pay for their transport fees, admission fees, and also lunch and any other out of pocket expenses.

Nicki

Hi, Nicki,

I am also going to be on the Sun Princess for their Japanese itinerary in June. There seems to be sparse reading on the ports and when I saw your post, I was interested.

The cruise I'm taking stops at Beppu, Hososhima, Kagoshima and Nagasaki in Japan. If any of those ports are familiar, I'm interested in what kind of excursions you did. Normally I book private tours as opposed to the ship excursions but that has been with fellow cruisers I found in the roll call. For this Japanese itinerary, there has been little activity on the roll call, so I may resort to ship excursions.

I'd like to hear what others did and also how your experience was on the Sun. This is my first time on Princess and in Japan. Excited but a bit overwhelmed in the planning stages. Thanks in advance.

Maria

Can anyone tell me how to go from the cruiseterminal to the citycentre/trainstation ?

Is this walkable or is there (hop-on/hop-off-) Bus or something?

Thanks.

Can anyone tell me how to go from the cruiseterminal to the citycentre/trainstation ?

Is this walkable or is there (hop-on/hop-off-) Bus or something?

Thanks.

There's a lot of information on the Kanazawa Cruise Port home page:

http://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/cruise/detail/022/index.html

There's good info on Eiheiji here:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6601.html

I've been to Eiheiji and, unless you are seriously into Zen Buddhism, there are other sites around Kanazawa that are more interesting and easier to get to.