Kanazawa Attractions

Kanazawa, chief town of Ishikawa prefecture, lies on the northwest coast of Honshu at the point where the Noto Peninsula projects into the Sea of Japan and the River Asano reaches the sea. It is the largest and finest city in the Hokuriku district and its cultural center. Many features of interest survive from its brilliant past, including one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan, the Kenrokuen Park in the heart of the city.

Kanazawa is now an industrial center and a university town, with a college of art. Local products are hand-colored silks (kagayuzen) and elegant porcelain (kutani-yaki) with colorful decoration.

History

The little village of Tamazaki developed towards the end of the 15th C, under the leadership of the Buddhist priesthood, into a center of political power which came under the control of Sakuma Morimasa in 1580 but three years later, during the civil wars, passed to Maeda Toshiie. During the subsequent three centuries of rule by the princely Maeda family, masters of the province of Kaga and the second most powerful dynasty of the Edo period, Kanazawa prospered as a center of culture and craft production.