This article is based on a visit made on Thursday, 17 May 2018.
Edit 15 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.
Previously on Sekai Ichi, I introduced the city of Kanazawa. We went there on a day-trip from Toyama, where we were staying. The day's adventures began with a visit to Kenroku-en (兼六園), a landscape garden park in the middle of the city. Originally part of the private grounds of Kanazawa Castle, Kenroku-en has been open to the public since 1874. Its name, meaning "garden of six attributes", refers to the six characteristics of a perfect landscape garden: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, water courses, and panoramas.
I had planned this excursion for the day before, but switched its spot with the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, and that proved to be a good idea. Whereas the previous day blessed us with plenty of sunshine, ideal for such an outdoor excursion, it rained off and on throughout our time in Kanazawa. Then again, this should have been expected. Kanazawa is known as one of the rainiest cities in Japan, with an average of 193 rainy days per year [1]. To get to where we would be going, we had to get through Kanazawa Station. In 2005, its front plaza was remodelled, adding a glass dome, called the "Motenashi Dome" (もてなしドーム, lit. 'welcoming dome'), to protect travellers from the frequent rain and snow. It is fronted by the massive Tsuzumi-mon (鼓門, lit. "drum gate"), a modernist take on the
torii gate.
A bus took us from the station to Kenroku-en, our first stop for the day. From the bus stop, the short uphill approach is lined with a few shops. Maybe they weren't 100% historically authentic buildings or businesses, but they were atmospheric nonetheless. Those umbrellas looked nice, but we brought our own.
Climbing up the hill, we reached the entrance to Kenroku-en. Directly across from the park's entrance, meanwhile, is the site of Kanazawa Castle. During the feudal age, it was occupied by the shoguns of the Maeda clan. Many of its structures burned down in various fires over the centuries, and were never yet rebuilt. The grounds were even used by the campus of Kanazawa University until the 1990s. Since then, there have been efforts to reconstruct its buildings, such as the Ishikawa Gate seen above. Today, the castle area is free to enter, with only a couple of reconstructed buildings requiring paid admission.
Near the entrance to Kenroku-en is this fountain. Dating to the late 19th century, it is the oldest fountain in Japan. It is powered solely by water pressure, with its source, the Sai River, flowing from uphill. I learned this fact from a tour guide we managed to tag along with. ;-)
A short walk uphill leads to Kasumi-ga-ike (霞ヶ池, lit. "misty pond"), the largest pond in the park. It is fed by the same water source as the fountain shown above. You may view this panorama in full size
here.
Here's another wide shot, from the other end of Kasumi-ga-ike. The little house standing just over the water's edge, over to the left, is the Uchihashi-tei (内橋亭, lit. "inside-bridge pavilion") teahouse. Again, full size
here.
One of the most famous icons of this park is the Kotoji (徽軫灯籠,
Kotoji-tōrō) stone lantern. It is named after the
koto, the string instrument I saw performed earlier at the
Gion Corner in Kyoto, since the shape of its two curved legs resemble the bridges that hold up a koto's strings.
Of course, Kotoji-toro isn't the only stone lantern in town. This one stands behind the "Flying Geese Bridge" (雁行橋,
gankō-bashi), so named because the V-shaped arrangement of its stepping-stones resembles the formation of geese in flight.
Here's a close-up of some bright pink, raindrop-decked azaleas from near the
kotoji-toro...
...and similarly-rainy irises. There are rows of these irises planted along some riverbanks, which you can spot from the aptly-named "flower-viewing bridge" (花見橋,
hanami-bashi).
Moving on to non-floral plants, Kenroku-en has a number of sprawling pine trees. This one, which is so large and twisted it requires all these supports under its branches, is the Karasaki Pine (唐崎松). It is named after Karasaki, a town on the southwestern shore of Lake Biwa, from which lord
Maeda Narinaga (前田 斉広, 1782-1824) received the seed he used to plant it.
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| No machine-readable author provided. Jovandavid~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
In preparation for the winter, this and other trees are protected from the snow by
yukitsuri (雪吊, lit. "snow-hanging"): tall poles draped by a series of ropes, forming cone shapes on top of the trees. The ropes are tied on the other end to branches of the trees, in order to support them against the weight of snow. Yukitsuri can also be seen in parks in Tokyo, despite the fact that Tokyo gets far less snow per year than, say, Kanazawa; they mostly serve as a sort of seasonal indicator.
Out near the eastern corner of the park stand the Meiji Monument, topped by a statue of
Prince Yamato Takeru (日本武尊/倭建命,
Yamato Takeru no Mikoto, c. AD 78-112). According to ancient Japanese texts such as the
Kojiki and
Nihon Shoki, Prince Yamato was a son of the
Emperor Keiko. His adventures included assassinating a rival clan leader by cross-dressing as one of his maidservants. This monument is dedicated to casualties of the
Satsuma Rebellion, a.k.a. the Seinan War, which took place on Kyushu in 1877.
Near the western corner of the park stands the Shigure-tei (時雨亭, lit. 'Autumn rain pavillion') teahouse. This villa was established in 1725, under lord
Maeda Yoshinori (前田吉徳, 1690-1745). After being torn down in the early Meiji period, it was reconstructed in 2000 based on recovered floorplans. At the Shigure-tei, you may order green tea sets as you gaze out upon smaller-scale, but no less cultivated, garden landscapes.
I ordered a couple of tea sets at Shigure-tei. It wasn't quite as splendid as what I had at the Hakone Museum of Art, but then again, this time around I cheaped out and got the basic set (¥310), which includes regular leaf-based green tea, a slightly-sweet wafer, and a couple of slightly-sweeter sugar pieces. For ¥720, you will get tea made from finer
matcha powder, and an original, likely hand-made,
namagashi (生菓子) sweet. Whichever set you decide upon, the soft, quiet ambiance of the place makes this a worthwhile diversion.
I took our sign-off selfie in front of the
kotoji-toro, because how could we not. But after we were finished with Kenroku-en, our next stop would be something a little less obvious... unless you know me. Find out where, next time on Sekai Ichi!
Kenroku-en
Hours: Open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, or from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM between mid-October and February. Early admission starts at 4:00 AM from April to August, 6:00 AM from November to February, and 5:00 AM the rest of the year. The Shigure-tei teahouse is open from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM; last orders are 30 minutes before closing time.
Cost: ¥320. Entry is free during early admission periods, but visitors must leave the park 15 minutes before regular opening time.
Address: 1 Kenrokuen-machi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa-ken 〒920-0936
Access: Multiple buses run between Kanazawa Station and Kenroku-en. All buses depart from the station's East entrance.
- From bus platform 4, take a JR West bus to Kenrokuen-shita (12 minutes, ¥200, JR Pass OK). Only 1-3 buses per hour pass by this stop. Schedule: (Japanese)
- From platform 6, take the Kenrokuen Shuttle bus to Kenrokuen Garden & Kanazawa Castle Park (20 minutes, ¥200). This bus costs only 100 on weekends and holidays.
- From platform 7, take the Kanazawa Left Loop or Right Loop bus to Kenrokuen Garden & Kanazawa Castle Park (25 minutes, ¥200).
Website:
(English) (Japanese)
Kanazawa Castle Park
Hours: Same as Kenroku-en above. The storehouse and turrets are open from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM; last entry is 30 minutes before closing time.
Cost: The castle grounds are free to enter. Admission to the storehouse and turrets costs ¥320.
Address: 1 Marunouchi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa-ken 〒920-0937
Access: See the directions to Kenroku-en above. From Kenroku-en's Katsurazaka entrance, go across the overpass to reach the castle park.
Website:
(English) (Japanese)
[1] Number of days with total rainfall measured at 0.5mm. Source: Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=56&block_no=47605&year=&month=1&day=&view=a1
