The classic Japanese garden is an artificial garden which is designed to be a reproduction of natural scenic beauty and the changing seasons in a simple sophisticated style. Rocks (stones), hills, trees, shrubs, ponds, and running water are located in a limited space to express formal beauty.

One of the most famous gardens is Kenrokuen.

Kenrokuen is located in the center of Kanazawa city in Ishikawa Prefecture and counted as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan along with Korakuen in Okayama and Kairakuen in Mito, Ibaragi. It was originally private garden of Lord Maeda's mansion next to Kanazawa Castle. The Maeda Family continued to renovate the garden for their ruling period from the 1620s to 1840s. It is a stroll-type landscape garden spreading over 100,000 m²). Various hills streams, smaller ponds and falls are showing nature in miniature, and give the garden a great variety where you can enjoy seasonal flowers. Yuga-no-tei Teahouse, the oldest building in the garden, built 1774, and yukimi-doro or Kotoji-doro (snow-viewing lantern) are special features.

According to an ancient Chinese poet, necessary elements to make a perfect garden are; expansiveness, tranquility, artifice, antiquity, fountain of water-courses, and panoramas. Garden with all these 6 elements could rarely be found. Kenrokuen is worth visiting because it is the garden that combines all these six scenic attributes.

Address: 1-4 Kenrokumachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref. Near Kenrokuenshita or Dewa-machi Bus Stop. (15 min. by bus from Kanazawa Sta.)
Open: 7:00-18:00 (Mar. 1-Oct. 15), 8:00-16:30 (Oct. 16-Feb.)
Admission: JPY 300