3 must-see gardens in kanazawa

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Three must-see gardens in Kanazawa

Kenrokuen Garden

Kenrokuen, along with Mito Kairakuen and Okayama Kourakuen, is renowned as one of the three most beautiful landscape gardens in Japan. It was constructed by the lords of the Kaga clan over a long period of time and earned the status of Daimyo garden (the garden of a feudal lord) during the Edo period. Located in the center of Kanazawa, the garden is beautiful in every season and delights locals and tourists from all over the world.

Posted on 01/07/2015

Nomura Samurai Family Residence

In 1583, when Maeda Toshiie, founder of the Kaga domain, moved to Kanazawa Castle, the family of Nomura Denbei Nobusada followed him as his retainers and the family held their magistrate positions through eleven generations. The house’s two-star Michelin garden features the Kyoku-sui (winding stream) style, around which you will see a number of lanterns. In 2009, it was ranked third among Japanese gardens by the American gardening magazine “Journal of Japanese Gardening”, and it now enjoys an excellent reputation around the world.

Gyokusen-en: Nishida family garden

Four generations of the Wakita family, the retainers of the Kaga domain, spent over 100 years creating this Chisen-kaiyu-style garden (garden with a pond in the center). The 2,300-square-meter garden was created 120 years before Kenrokuen. Beautiful stones were collected from all over the country and placed around the garden as Kaiseki (landscape stones) or Tobi-ishi (stepping stones). Several hundred different types of flowers and plants add color to the landscape through the whole season. You can try Matcha tea whilst enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Kenrokuen was built in the style of “Kaiyu-shiki” (“go-round” style), adopting gardening techniques passed down through the generations. “Kaiyu-shiki”-style gardens usually feature a central pond connected to a series of smaller ponds by “Kyokusui” (winding stream). The gardens typically include man-made hills, different types of trees, Gotei (residences) and Chaya (teahouses), where you can stop while strolling around the garden.