Kanazawa

• Ishikawa Prefecture
  • Hakusan
  • Nonoichi
  • Uchinada
  • Tsubata
• Toyama Prefecture
  • Oyabe
  • Nanto

Kanazawa has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by hot, humid summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall.[3] Average temperatures are slightly cooler than those of Tokyo, with means approximately 4 °C (39 °F) in January, 12 °C (54 °F) in April, 27 °C (81 °F) in August, 17 °C (63 °F) in October, and 7 °C (45 °F) in December. The lowest temperature on record was −9.4 °C (15.1 °F) on January 27, 1904, with a maximum of 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) standing as a record since September 8, 1902.[4] The city is distinctly wet, with an average humidity of 73% and 193 rainy days in an average year. Precipitation is highest in the autumn and winter; it averages more than 250 millimetres (10 in)/ month November through January when the Aleutian Low is strongest, but it is above 125 millimetres (4.9 in) every month of the year.

• Kanazawa University – is a large national university that traces its history back to the founding of a small medical school in 1862. Its immediate predecessor was the Fourth Upper High School, one of the elite preparatory schools for the Imperial Universities before the war. Many prominent politicians and other notables were graduates of 'Shiko', as it was known.
• Kanazawa College of Art, a public university operated by the city government
• Hokuriku University – a private liberal arts college with a business management department specializing in foreign languages and a School of Pharmacy
• Kanazawa Seiryo University, a private business and education university
• Kanazawa Gakuin University, private liberal arts college
• Hokuriku Gakuin University, a private Christian university which celebrated the 125th anniversary of its founding in 2010, with associated junior college
• Kanazawa Gakuin College, a private junior college
• Seiryo Women's Junior College, a private women's junior college

Kanazawa has 58 public elementary schools operated by the city government and one public elementary school operated by the national government (associated with Kanazawa University) and one private elementary school.

The city has 25 public middle schools operated by the city government, one public combined middle/high school operated by the Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education, one public combined middle/high school operated by the national government (associated with Kanazawa University) and two private combined middle/high schools.

Aside from the above combined middle/high schools, Kanazawa has 11 public high schools operated by the Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education, one public industrial high school operated by the city government and four private high schools.

Ishikawa Prefecture also operates five special education schools in Kanazawa.

Tsuzumimon, the main entrance to Kanazawa Station

Kanazawa is served by the JR West Hokuriku Main Line and the Hokuriku Railroad. Since 14 March 2015, the city is also served by the Hokuriku Shinkansen, shortening the trip from Tokyo to Kanazawa to around 2 and a half hours. With the opening of the Shinkansen line in March 2015, part of the Hokuriku Main Line which was formerly operated by JR West was separated and operated by the third-sector company IR Ishikawa Railway.

West Japan Railway Company (JR West) - Hokuriku Shinkansen

• Kanazawa

West Japan Railway Company (JR West) - Hokuriku Main Line

• Nishi-Kanazawa - Kanazawa

IR Ishikawa Railway

• Morimoto-Higashi-Kanazawa - Kanazawa

Hokuriku Railroad – Asanogawa Line

• Hokutetsu-Kanazawa - Nanatsuya -Kamimoroe - Isobe - Waridashi -Mitsukuchi - Mitsuya - Okobata - Kitama - Kagatsume

Hokuriku Railroad – Ishikawa Line

• Magae - Nuka-Jūtakumae - Otomaru -Shijima

• Hokuriku Expressway
• Noto Satoyama Expressway
• National Route 8
• National Route 157
• National Route 159
• National Route 249
• National Route 304
• National Route 305
• National Route 359

The nearest airport is Komatsu Airport in the city of Komatsu.

• Port of Kanazawa

Kanazawa boasts numerous Edo period (1603–1867) former geisha houses in the Higashi Geisha District, across the Asano river (with its old stone bridge) out from central Kanazawa. Nearby is the Yougetsu Minshuku which sits at one end of one of the most photographed streets in Japan. This area retains the look and feel of pre-modern Japan, its two-story wooden façades plain and austere. The effect is accentuated by the early morning mist. At night, the street is lit by recreated Taishō-period streetlamp.

Houses were taxed on the width of the frontage, leading to the development of many long, thin houses. Unlike samurai houses, they were built right up to the road and directly abutted their neighbours. They were two-storied, though the upper floor was used mainly for storage, particularly at the front of the house, above the shop area. One feature of Kanazawa merchant houses is the long earth corridor that runs from the front door to the rear of the house. This was usually on one side, and the rooms opened off it. The typical merchant's house, would have the shop area, then a couple of inner rooms, with the most important room at the back, facing the inner garden. Beyond that was the kitchen area, and at the rear of the house would be a thick-walled fireproof storehouse.

Though very few from the Edo period remain, the basic style remained unchanged until the World War II. One notable feature of the design is the 'sode-utatsu' wings extending forward on the sides of the upper floor. Their exact purpose is not certain, but one theory is that they were wind blockers, which is logical given Kanazawa's weather. Snow was also a significant factor in house design. The roofs sloped into a central garden that was designed to allow snow to collect as much as to provide light to the rear. While the sea of black-glazed tiles sparkling in the sun is a common tourist image of Kanazawa today, the traditional architectural style used wooden boards held down by stones. Due to the heavy snowfalls of the Japan Sea coast, traditional tiles were considered to be too heavy. The use of tiles on the frontage and boards under the eaves is to prevent snow damage.

Nagamachi area in 2014

Large-scale reorganization of the samurai areas took place in 1611. Areas had been ordained by income. As the total income of the domain had increased fourfold in the past couple of decades, there was some reorganization to be done. And room had to be found for the 14 families with incomes over 3,000 koku and their retainers, not to mention the large number of samurai who arrived from Takaoka (in Toyama Prefecture) with Maeda Toshitsune, the third lord, when he took up his position. The richest families were moved out of the castle and given massive estates throughout the city. Their own retainers were housed in huge complexes nearby. The most notable example in Kanazawa is Honda-machi, where the retainers of the rich and powerful Honda family lived, in what was almost a town within a town.

In most cases, even with large fiefs like Sendai and Satsuma, samurai tended to live on their own land. But in Kaga all samurai, regardless of income, lived in Kanazawa. When Kanazawa was finished in more or less its final form in the late 17th century, over three-quarters of it was samurai housing. Nearest the castle were the huge estates of the Eight Houses (chief vassals) and their own retainers. For every 100 koku of income, a samurai was given about 550 square metres of land, and average of the "middle-class" samurai was 800, which is huge compared to modern Japanese housing. The richest vassal family, the Hondas, had a 50,000 koku income. The minimum for daimyo level was 10,000 koku, and apart from the Eight Houses, some twelve families had incomes in excess of this. Kanazawa was filled with huge mansions.

Size and location of samurai housing was determined by income and standing. The richest and most powerful samurai in Kanazawa had their own men, often hundreds of them, who were housed in large areas that usually adjoined the main house. Samurai houses shared a similar basic pattern: a single-floored residence, usually fairly square or rectangular in plan, surrounded by a garden – both the vegetable and the decorative kinds. The roof was gabled and faced the road. The boundary wall was usually made of beaten earth, topped with tiles. There are a number of them around in the city, most notably in the Nagamachi area. The size and height of the wall and the entry gate were also dictated by rank. Samurai over 400 koku in income had a stable gate, used to house guards and horses.

Though the Nagamachi area is promoted in the tourist brochures as the 'samurai area', the overwhelming majority of the houses are not samurai houses, but modern post-war housing. There are very few genuine samurai houses in Kanazawa. (This is because after the Meiji Restoration the samurai found themselves bereft of their traditional income, and many of them ended up selling off their estates, which were turned into fields before being redeveloped as modern housing before World War II.)

Teramachi area in 2016

One distinctive aspect of Kanazawa, and other castle towns, is the clustering of temples near the entrances. When Kanazawa was ruled by the Ikkō, the temples were all Jōdo Shinshū, the Ikkō sect. After the Ikkō were defeated, other sects moved in: Sōtō, Shingon, Hokke, Ji, etc. They were placed in their present locations by around 1616. In the Teramachi ("temple town" area), they were lined up side by side along a long straight road leading to the foot of Nodayama. Defensive purposes have often been argued for this type of planning, and it is true that the wide spaces, thick walls, and large halls of temples were able to be used as emergency fortifications. However, to what extent this influenced the layout is not certain. It was, in Kanazawa's case at least, never put to the test.

On the other side of town, the Utatsuyama temple district, at the foot of the hill of the same name, has smaller temples and twisty roads.

Higashi (east) geisha area in 2015

Kanazawa had a further expansion in 1661, when many samurai who had followed their retired Lord Toshitsune to his villa at Komatsu returned after his death. They built houses on the fringes of the city, with street layouts almost totally unplanned. These areas are some of the most labyrinthine parts of the city, but this was not done for defensive purposes. By this time, peace was quite firmly secured. To alleviate crowding from the continual (illegal) inflow of peasants and other migrants, residents were permitted to rent land from neighbouring farmers. These areas are some of the most convoluted, as the roads were laid out on the old winding paths through the fields.

Thus Kanazawa attained the form that it kept for the rest of the Edo period — even now the majority of roads in the old city are little changed in form from two centuries ago. The only major change was the creation of 'geisha districts' (hanamachi) at the foot of Utatsuyama and over the Sai River in 1820, to control and regulate pleasure houses and prostitutes (bath-girls: 湯女). However, conservative factions regained control of the Kaga government, and the geisha districts were abolished a decade later. The districts were made legal again just before the Meiji Restoration, and stayed that way until prostitution was officially outlawed in 1954. The geisha areas were out of bounds to samurai; they were patronised by rich merchants and artisans, who would compete with each other to spend the most money on parties.

The geisha house, or 'tea house' as it is commonly called, is superficially similar to the merchant houses (in the same way the samurai houses are superficially similar to farmhouses). However, unlike the merchant houses, where the second floor at the front was for storage, and thus very low, the second story of tea houses are much higher, because the upper floor was used as the main entertaining area.

The upper floors are faced with sliding wooden shutters which would be open in the day or when there was a party going on. The bottom floor is faced with the unique, extremely fine latticework that is known as 'Kaga lattice'. The standard of décor was far higher than most merchant houses, at least to the extent allowed by the Sumptuary Laws that the Shogunate passed. Due in part to the long gloomy winters, Kaga décor is far brighter than the drab earth browns and greens and ochres of Kyoto style: bold bright scarlets (benigara: 紅柄) and ultramarines were popular. The upper floor of the Seisonkaku Villa in Kenrokuen is particularly boldly decorated, with purple and black walls as well.

Hyakumangoku Matsuri and Asano-gawa Enyukai are the major festivals held in Kanazawa.

Kanazawa-haku is gold that is beaten into a paper-like sheet. Gold leaf plays a prominent part in the city's cultural crafts, to the extent that there is the Kanazawa Yasue Gold Leaf Museum. It is found throughout Kanazawa and Ishikawa; Kanazawa produces 99% of Japan's high-quality gold leaf. The gold leaf that covers the famous Golden Pavilion in Kyoto was produced in Kanazawa. Gold leaf is even put into food. The city is famous for tea with gold flakes, which is considered by the Japanese people to be good for health and vitality. Kanazawa lacquerware (Kanazawa shikki), a high-quality lacquerware traditionally decorated with gold dust, is also well known.

'Cultural landscape in Kanazawa. Tradition and culture in the castle town' has been designated an Important Cultural Landscape.[17]

Kanazawa is known for its traditional Kaga Cuisine, with seafood a specialty. The sake produced in this region, derived from the rice grown in Ishikawa Prefecture with the considerable precipitation of the Hokuriku region, allowing for an ample supply of clean, fresh water is considered to be of high quality. Omicho market is a market in the middle of the city, originally open-air, and now covered, which dates back to the Edo period. Most of the shops there sell seafood.

Popular Food and Drink in Kanazawa include:[18]

• Wagashi (Japanese confections) of Kanazawa - Admired for its ability to be sampled by the 5 senses of taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing.
• Jibuni - A dish that matches duck with a thick soup. It symbolizes Kanazawa
• Kanazawa Sake - Refined sake from the region.
• Kaga Vegetables - Premium vegetables supporting the traditional cuisine of old Kanazawa.
• Kaburazushi - A traditional fermented dish that has existed since the Edo Era

• Nobuyuki Abe (36th Prime Minister of Japan)
• Takuo Godō (Vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy)
• Yoichi Hatta (Engineer of Governor-General of Taiwan)
• Hayakawa Senkichirō (Politician, President of South Manchuria Railway)
• Senjūrō Hayashi (33rd Prime Minister of Japan)
• Tetsuo Kutsukake (Cabinet minister)
• Ryūtarō Nagai (Cabinet minister)
• Nakahashi Tokugorō (Cabinet minister)
• Naoki Okada (Politician)

• Inokuchi Ariya (Founder of Ebara Corporation)
• Shitagau Noguchi (Founder of Nichitsu zaibatsu)
• Masatsune Ogura (President of Sumitomo Group)

• Hisashi Kimura（Astronomer）
• Yoshio Koide（Physicist）
• Miyake Setsurei（Philosopher）
• D. T. Suzuki（Scholar of Zen Buddhism）
• Gaisi Takeuti（Mathematician）
• Yoshirō Taniguchi（Architect）

• Kyōka Izumi (Novelist)
• Yasushi Kataoka (Architect)
• Natsuo Kirino (Novelist)
• Murō Saisei (Novelist, Poet)
• Shōgyo Ōba (Maki-e lacquer artist, Living National Treasure of Japan)
• Takumi Shibano (Science-fiction translator and author)
• Yoshirō Taniguchi (Architect)
• Shūsei Tokuda (Novelist)

• Azumi Inoue（Singer）
• Tatsuya Isaka（Actor）
• Takeshi Kaga（Actor）
• Toshiko Koshijima（Singer, Capsule）
• Yasutaka Nakata（Record Producer, Capsule）
• Mamiko Noto（Voice Actress）
• Shun Shioya（Actor）
• Ryōko Shintani（Voice Actress）
• Aya Suzaki（Voice Actress）
• Miki Takakura（Actress）
• Misato Tanaka（Actress）
• Mayuko Watanabe（Media Journalist）
• Kazuki Yao（Voice Actor）
• Ryutaro Morimoto (Singer)

• Kenkichi Oshima（Bronze medalist at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles）
• Takanori Sugibayashi

• Eiji Kanamori
• Ryosuke Miyaguni
• Arihito Muramatsu
• Kentaro Nishikawa
• Shintaro Yoshida

• Koji Hashimoto
• Sena Inami
• Kazuma Kita
• Hikaru Kitagawa
• Takahiro Takagi

• Dejima Takeharu
• Enhō Akira
• Kagayaki Taishi

• Keiji Kojima（Keirin）
• Yu Koshikawa（Volleyball）
• Akira Masuda（Karate）
• Keita Masuda（Badminton）
• Kaori Matsumoto（Judo）
• Hiroshi Nakano（Rower）
• Naoya Nomura （Professional wrestling）
• Hisakatsu Oya（Professional wrestling）
• Katsuhiko Sumii（Horse trainer）
• Rana Nakano（Trampoline）
• Igor Fraga （Motorsport）