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Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, a former castle town of the Maeda clan that is famous for Kenroku-en, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, its preserved teahouse and samurai districts and its fine crafts, from lacquer to gold leaf.
After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 the Maeda lords of the Kaga Domain held 1.2 million koku, by far the richest domain under the Tokugawa shogunate, and they spent their wealth on arts and crafts. By 1700 Kanazawa had more than 100,000 people, and today it produces 99 percent of Japan's high-quality gold leaf.
Visitors stroll Kenroku-en and the castle park, walk the old lanes of the Higashi Chaya District and the earthen walls of Nagamachi, and eat seafood at Ōmichō Market. Modern Kanazawa adds the round glass 21st Century Museum and the Tsuzumi-mon Gate of its station.
Kenroku-en is a strolling garden in Kanazawa built by the Maeda clan in the Edo period and counted with Kairaku-en and Kōraku-en among the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Its 11.7 hectares hold ponds, tea houses, one of Japan's oldest fountains and the two-legged Kotoji stone lantern.
Kanazawa Castle was the headquarters of the Kaga Domain, ruled by the Maeda clan for 14 generations until 1871, and stands beside Kenroku-en in Kanazawa. The original Ishikawa Gate of 1788 survives, while turrets and long storehouses were rebuilt in 2001 with traditional methods.
Oyama Shrine in Kanazawa honours Maeda Toshiie, founder of the Kaga Domain, and his wife Matsu. Its striking three-storey gate, finished in 1875, mixes Japanese, Chinese and Western styles, has coloured glass in its top floor and is a National Important Cultural Property.
Myōryū-ji, nicknamed the Ninja Temple, is a Nichiren Buddhist temple in Kanazawa built in 1643 by the third Maeda lord as part of the city's defences. It has no link to ninjas, but its 23 rooms and 29 staircases hide secret chambers, trap doors, escape pits and a deep central well.
The Higashi Chaya District is the best-known teahouse quarter of Kanazawa, opened with approval of the Kaga Domain in 1820 on the east bank of the Asano River. About two thirds of its 140 buildings are traditional teahouse-style townhouses, and it is a nationally protected historic district.
The Kazuemachi Chaya District is a small teahouse quarter in Kanazawa on the bank of the Asano River near the Asanogawa Bridge. It flourished from the Meiji era to before the Second World War, keeps many buildings of that time and is a nationally protected historic district.
The Nishi Chaya District is a teahouse quarter in Kanazawa on the west side of the Sai River, opened in 1820 with approval from the twelfth Maeda lord at the same time as the Higashi district. Restaurants and geisha houses line its street, and it has the most geisha of Kanazawa's teahouse quarters.
The Nagamachi Samurai District in Kanazawa is a quarter of former residences of upper and middle-ranking samurai of the Kaga Domain. Earthen walls and stone-paved lanes line its streets, and the walls are wrapped in straw mats in winter. The Nomura family house has a highly rated garden.
The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa is a round glass building designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA and opened in 2004. It welcomed 1.57 million visitors in its first year, and in 2020 it still ranked among the ten most visited art museums in the world.
The D. T. Suzuki Museum in Kanazawa opened in 2011 and is dedicated to the life and ideas of the Kanazawa-born Buddhist philosopher D. T. Suzuki, who introduced Zen to the West. Designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, it has a quiet contemplative space that looks out over its Water Mirror Garden.
The Tsuzumi-mon Gate is the great wooden gate in front of the east exit of Kanazawa Station, completed in 2005 and shaped like the hand drums of Kaga Hōshō noh theatre. Behind it the glass Motenashi Dome shelters travellers, and in 2011 the station was named among the most beautiful in the world.
Ōmichō Market is the busy food market in the centre of Kanazawa, with about 180 shops and restaurants selling fresh seafood, produce and everyday goods. Its history dates back to 1721, when it supplied the kitchens of the Kaga Domain, and today it is known as the kitchen of the people of Kanazawa.
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