Kanazawa Castle Park

Kanazawa Castle Park preserves the seat of the Maeda clan, who for nearly three centuries ruled the wealthiest domain in feudal Japan after the shogunate itself, the great Kaga domain worth a million koku of rice. Founded in 1583 by Maeda Toshiie, one of the leading generals of the age, the castle grew into a sprawling fortress that anchored a domain so rich and powerful that the Tokugawa shoguns watched it warily. Over the centuries fire repeatedly ravaged the castle, as it did so many Japanese fortresses, and the main keep was never rebuilt after an early blaze, but the surviving and reconstructed structures still convey the immense scale and refinement of the Maeda stronghold.

The park's architectural highlights are its beautifully restored gates, turrets and storehouses. The Ishikawa-mon gate, a survivor from 1788, has long been the castle's iconic face, but the great achievement of recent decades has been the meticulous reconstruction of the Hishi Yagura turret, the Gojukken Nagaya, a fifty-bay storehouse, and the Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagura, all completed in 2001 using traditional methods and materials, without modern nails, so that visitors can step inside and see the massive wooden frames, the white plaster walls and the distinctive lead roof tiles that gleam pale grey and were said to double as a source of ammunition in wartime. Further restoration has since added the Kahoku-mon gate and the elegant Gyokusen'inmaru garden, gradually returning the castle to its historic form.

Spread across the hilltop, the park is a spacious, uncrowded counterpart to the famously beautiful Kenrokuen garden that lies just across a stone bridge, and the two were historically parts of a single lordly estate. Broad lawns, moats, stone ramparts of superb masonry, and the pale walls of the reconstructed buildings make for a serene and photogenic ramble, lovely under cherry blossom in spring, warm with maple colour in autumn, and quietly magical under snow in winter, when Kanazawa's grey skies and white walls seem made for one another.

As the historical heart of the city, the castle is the natural anchor of any visit to Kanazawa, and it connects directly to Kenrokuen, the Oyama Shrine whose ornate gate was built facing the castle, and the samurai and teahouse districts that grew up around the fortress. Entry to the park itself is free, with only a modest charge to go inside the turret and storehouse buildings, which is well worth it for the astonishing carpentry on display.

To get there, take the Kanazawa Loop Bus or a city bus from Kanazawa Station to the Kenrokuen-shita or Korimbo area and walk up to the gates. Allow around ninety minutes to explore the grounds and interiors, longer if you combine it with Kenrokuen next door, which most visitors rightly do. Come early to enjoy the ramparts in soft morning light before the day's tour groups arrive.