Hakuichi

Retail store with the infamous gold leaf ice cream

Hakuichi is a store which is probably best known for their gold leaf ice creams that you see on social media almost anytime someone visits Kanazawa. The store also offers a pretty impressive range of gold leaf products, with pieces like mirrors, jewelry boxes and vases coated in gold leaf just some of what’s available to choose from. It’s hard to rate the store overall since I feel like my opinion is being clouded by the soft cream, but an ice cream is 900+ yen! I often joke when something is expensive that “was it covered in gold leaf?” and in this case it actually is. Yes, the ice cream is beautiful, yes, it’s instagrammable, but phew, it’s definifely a touristy thing to do. The store was packed though so I guess the gimmick works! Long story short - perhaps go for the ice cream and stay for the artisanship. The gold leaf products on offer really are beautiful (and you don’t need to be sucked in by the ice creams!)