Kanazawa City

Kanazawa Castle Kanazawa Castle is a large castle in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan that has been lovingly restored. Located adjacent to the celebrated Kenroku-en Garden, which once formed the castle’s private outer garden, Kanazawa Castle and Kenroku Garden are popular tourist destinations in Kanazawa; highly recommended for people interested in Japanese gardens. Kanazawa Castle was founded in 1583 by the Maeda klan, who came to Kanazawa to establish the Kaga Domain. Due to damage from earthquakes, fires, battles, and other calamites the structure has been rebuilt many times since its completion. The Castle was almost completely destroyed in 1881 in a fire. Some portions of the structure, including the 1788 Ishikawa Gate, 1858 Sanjukken Nagaya (primarily a warehouse for weapons and ammunition), and the Tsurumaru Storehouse survived to become a part of Kanazawa Castle Park in 1997. The Hishi Yagura turret, Gojikken Nagaya warehouse, and Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagura turret were restored in 2001 using traditional construction methods to their 1809 form. The modern recreation of the pillars uses Japanese Hinoki Cypress timber with American cypress ceiling beams. The structure is so large that in the late 18th century it was known as “the palace of 1,000 tatami”. One of the…