Kanazawa (Japanese: 金沢市, -shi) is a large city, seaport and administrative center of Ishikawa Prefecture on Honshū, the main island of Japan. Kanazawa is located about 150 km north of Nagoya on the coast of the Sea of Japan and is the largest city in the Hokuriku region with over 450,000 inhabitants.
Muromachi Period (1336–1573)
During the Muromachi period, as the
authority of the central shoguns in Kyoto declined, Kaga Province came
under the influence of the Ikkō-ikki, a militant group of followers of
the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist sect led by the priest Rennyo. These warrior
monks overthrew the Togashi clan, the province's official governors, and
established a theocratic republic often called the "Peasants' Kingdom"
or Kaga ikki. Their primary stronghold was the Kanazawa Gobo temple on
the Kodatsuno Ridge, a strategically defensible location surrounded by
hills and rivers. This site fostered the growth of a surrounding castle
town, laying the groundwork for modern Kanazawa. The Ikko sect's
religious government centered here about 500 years ago, marking the
city's origins as a hub of spiritual and communal power.
Sengoku
Period (1467–1615)
The Sengoku period brought significant upheaval.
In 1580, warlord Oda Nobunaga sent generals Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma
Morimasa to conquer the Kaga Ikkō-ikki, destroying the Kanazawa Gobo
temple. Morimasa was initially granted the province, but after
Nobunaga's assassination in 1582, Maeda Toshiie, one of Nobunaga's
retainers, displaced him and established the Kaga Domain. In 1583,
Toshiie entered Kanazawa, constructed Kanazawa Castle on the former
temple site, and began developing the city as a castle town. Following
the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, where the Maeda clan allied with
Tokugawa Ieyasu, their holdings expanded to 1.2 million koku (a measure
of rice production, indicating wealth), making Kaga the largest feudal
domain in the Tokugawa shogunate. This period transformed Kanazawa into
a fortified center under Maeda rule, with the clan's lordship producing
an annual yield of a million koku of rice, the largest in Japan at the
time.
Edo Period (1603–1868)
Under the Maeda clan, Kanazawa
flourished during the Edo period, spanning nearly 280 years of peace and
prosperity. Maeda Toshiie and his successors enlarged Kanazawa Castle in
the late 16th century, designing the surrounding jōkamachi (castle town)
with strategic defenses, including moats and ridges. A devastating fire
in 1631 razed much of the city and castle, leading to reconstruction
efforts. In 1632, the third daimyō, Maeda Toshitsune, commissioned a
canal from the upper Sai River to supply water, ingeniously engineered
over 3.3 kilometers to feed the castle moat and Kenrokuen’s
Kasumi-ga-Ike lake as an emergency reservoir. The inner moat was dug in
just 27 days, and the outer moat was even wider, using excavated earth
for defensive barriers.
The population grew rapidly from about 5,000
before the Maeda arrival to over 100,000 by 1700, making Kanazawa one of
Japan's largest cities, comparable to major European centers like Rome
or Amsterdam. Incentives such as tax exemptions and land grants
attracted samurai, artisans, and merchants, boosting the chōnin
(townsman) class. The 1610s Sai River Project created new land for
expansion, while poorer merchants produced everyday goods, stimulating
the local economy. Samurai housing dominated over three-quarters of the
city by the late 17th century, with districts reorganized by income
levels. Temples were strategically placed near entrances for defense,
including clusters in Teramachi and Utatsuyama.
As tozama daimyō
(outer lords), the Maeda clan channeled their wealth into arts and
crafts to deflect suspicions from the shogunate, fostering the
"Million-koku Culture." Toshitsune established the Kaga Workmanship
Office for lacquer and gold-lacquer arts, while the fifth daimyō, Maeda
Tsunanori, amassed artworks and invited artisans nationwide. This
patronage elevated cultural practices like tea ceremonies, Noh theater,
and traditional crafts, influencing all social classes and establishing
Kanazawa as a refined cultural hub. The city's avoidance of wars during
this era contributed to its preserved heritage.
Meiji Restoration
and Modern Era (1868–Present)
Following the Meiji Restoration in
1868, which ended feudal rule, political power shifted to Tokyo, and the
Maeda clan's influence waned, leading to a decline in patron-supported
crafts. However, local citizens and artisans preserved these traditions.
Kanazawa became the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture and was officially
established as a modern city on April 1, 1889, with an initial area of
10.40 square kilometers, gradually expanding through annexations to
468.64 square kilometers today.
Remarkably, Kanazawa escaped air
raids during World War II and has avoided major wars or natural
disasters for over 430 years, allowing entire Edo-period districts—like
geisha houses in Higashi Chaya and samurai residences in Nagamachi—to
survive alongside modern developments. Post-war, the population grew
from 361,379 in 1970 to a peak of 463,254 in 2020. In 1996, it was
designated a core city with greater autonomy. Today, Kanazawa is a
regional commercial and transportation hub, renowned for tourism,
traditional crafts such as Kutani ware ceramics and gold leaf (producing
99% of Japan's supply), and sites like Kenrokuen Garden, opened to the
public in 1875 and ranked among Japan's three great gardens. Festivals
like Hyakumangoku Matsuri celebrate its heritage, and the city serves as
the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of the
Hokuriku region. Governance features a mayor-council system, with
Takashi Murayama as mayor since 2022.
Worth seeing are the Kenrokuen, a park that is considered one of the
three perfect gardens in Japan, the newly built Kanazawa Castle with the
Ishikawa-mon, the only remnant of the original castle, and the Samurai
Quarter, where former Samurai villas have been preserved to this day.
Ninja-dera, Omicho Market, Teramachi and the Higashiyama Chaya (tea
district) should also not be missed during a visit.
Train:
JR Hokuriku Main Line
Hokuriku Shinkansen
Road:
Hokuriku Highway
National Road 8
National Roads 157, 159, 249,
304, 305, 359
The Hokuriku Shinkansen route has been in operation
since March 2015 to Kanazawa and since March 2024 to Tsuruga. A
continuation via Obama to Osaka is being planned. In preparation for the
express service, the main station was completely rebuilt in 2005.
In addition to mechanical engineering and the textile industry, the most important economic sectors are arts and crafts. Gold leaf from Kanazawa, pottery (Kutani-yaki, Ohi-Yaki), silk painting (Kaga-Yuzen) and lacquerware (Wajima-nuri) from nearby Wajima on the Noto Peninsula are particularly famous.
There are two public and four private universities in Kanazawa.
Maeda Tsunanori (1643–1724), Tozama daimyō during the Edo period
Ganku (1756 or 1749–1839 or 1838), painter
Inokuchi Ariya
(1856–1923), founder of mechanical engineering and inventor of the
centrifugal pump
Uryū Sotokichi (1857–1937), admiral
Ōse Jintarō
(1866–1944), educator
Fujii Kenjirō (1866–1952), botanist
Fujioka
Sakutarō (1870–1910), literary scholar
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki
(1870–1966), Buddhist author
Kyōka Izumi (1873–1939), writer
Kiryū
Yūyū (1873–1941), journalist
Nobuyuki Abe (1875–1953), general,
politician and 36th Prime Minister of Japan
Shūkō Yoshida
(1887–1946), painter
Saisei Murō (1889–1962), writer
Saiten Tamura
(1889–1933), painter
Hatakeyama Kinsei (1897–1995), painter
Akaji
Yūsai (1906–1984), lacquer artist
Hasegawa Norishige (1907–1998),
businessman
Shūgorō Hasuda (1915–2010), blacksmith
Chōzaemon Ōhi
(* 1927), ceramicist
Yoshio Koide (* 1942), physicist
Terumichi
Yamada (* 1953), Jazz musician
Yoshiya Minami (* 1971), porn actor
Dejima Takeharu (* 1974), sumo wrestler
Mamiko Noto (* 1980), voice
actress
Yōhei Koyama (* 1998), ski racer
Ryōya Taniguchi (* 1999),
football player