Kanazawa Castle

This is an amazing castle. The castle alone is 4 stars, but when considering the samurai homes, castle town, and Kenrokuen Gardens, the complete site is a 5 star destination. The castle is much larger than it looks. I was not able to visit some areas this trip so I definitely want to visit again. Pl

History

The castle was first founded by Sakuma Morimasa, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, in 1580. He started to build one of the moats and to build up the castle town. After the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, it was taken over by Maeda Toshiie, who built up the castle in earnest.

The castle originally had a large six-level main keep, but it burned down in 1602 and was never rebuilt. Kanazawa Castle had several fires that destroyed parts of the castle over the years. The Maeda clan ruled over the Kaga region from Kanazawa for 14 generations until the coming of the Meiji Restoration.

The picture above is of the Hashizume Gate and connected yagura. The gate separates the Ninomaru (second bailey) from the Sannomaru (third bailey).

Field Notes

This is an amazing castle. The castle alone is 4 stars, but when considering the samurai homes, castle town, and Kenrokuen Gardens, the complete site is a 5 star destination. The castle is much larger than it looks. I was not able to visit some areas this trip so I definitely want to visit again. Plan even more time than you might think you'll need and don't miss the Kenrokuen Gardens either.

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Gallery

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Castle Profile
English Name	Kanazawa Castle
Japanese Name	金沢城
Alternate Names	Oyama-jo
Founder	Maeda Toshiie
Year Founded	1580
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Top 100 Castles, has Important Cultural Properties, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Artifacts	Ishikawa Gate, Tsurumaru Warehouse, Sanjukken Nagaya
Features	gates, turrets, samurai homes, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access	Kanazawa Sta. (Hokuriku Line), 15 minutes by bus
Hours	Park open 7am to 6pm (March 1-October 15), 8am to 5pm otherwise. The Buildings are open 9am to 4:30pm. The castle buildings are 310 yen for admission or you can get a combination ticket with the Kenrokuen Gardens for 500 yen.
Time Required	180 mins
URL	Castle Website
Location	Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture
Coordinates	36.56549, 136.65928
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2006
Admin Year Visited	2006, 2016, 2020
Admin Visits	June 10, 2006; Oct 29, 2016; Oct. 15, 2020
Friends of JCastle
Malcolm Fairman Photography - Kanazawa Castle