Itto Kanazawa (Oysters & Sushi)

Itto sits inside the Kanazawa branch of MUSASHI JAPAN, a premium Japanese knife brand, at the edge of the Higashi Chaya district — a six-seat counter tucked behind a wall of blades. The centerpiece is temaki, hand-rolled sushi built from fish bought each morning at Kanazawa's market and matured using the kitchen's own aging technique to draw out depth of flavor. The rice is Ishikawa-grown, the nori comes from the long-established Mikuniya, and each piece runs about 1.3 times the usual size. Diners roll the nori themselves and eat in two bites, tasting how the flavor shifts partway through. The other signature dish is oyster tsuke-soba: a dense broth of flying-fish dashi slowly concentrated with oysters and kombu, served with thick house-made noodles of nothing but wheat and kansui. Tableware is made in Kanazawa, and the sake comes directly from Hokuriku breweries. The chef works with knives from the shop next door — and those knives are for sale. English-speaking staff and an English menu are available, and the daytime hours make it easy to fold into a walk through the old teahouse streets.