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Kanazawa (金沢市;
-shi) is the capital
city of
Ishikawa in
Japan. It sits on the
Sea of Japan, bordered by the
Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park
and
Noto Peninsula National Park. The
city has a population of 450,000, and sits on the
Sai and
Asano
rivers.
Kanazawa literally means "marsh of
gold": the name is said to derive from the legend of a peasant called
Imohori Togoro who washed
gold dust from potatoes into a well (known as Kinjo Reitaku). Kanazawa
was once ruled by the Maeda family from
1583 until the
Meiji Restoration in
1868.
The city is famous for
tea with gold flakes, which is considered by the Japanese people to be
good for health and vitality.
Gold leaf plays a prominent part in
the city's cultural crafts, to the extent that there is a gold leaf museum
(Kanazawa Yasue Gold Leaf Museum).
Kenrokuen Garden is by far the most
famous part of Kanazawa. Originally built as the outer garden of Ishikawa
castle, it was opened to the public in
1875. It is considered one of the "three most beautiful gardens in
Japan" and is filled with a variety of trees, ponds, waterfalls and flowers
stretching over 25
acres. In winter, the park is notable for its
yukitsuri�ropes attached in a
conical array to trees to break up snow as it falls and thereby protect the
trees from damage.
Outside of Kenrokuen is Ishakawa-mon, the gate to
Ishikawa Castle. The castle itself is gone, destroyed by fire. The gate and
its outer walls and some stone blocks are all that remain of its ruins.
Kanazawa also boasts a 100-year-old former
geisha house: the Higashi Geisha
District, across the Asano river (with its old stone bridge) out from
central Kanazawa. Nearby is the Yougetsu Minshuku sits at one end of one of
the most photographed streets in Japan. It retains, almost completely, the
look and feel of nineteenth century Japan, its two-story wooden
facades plain and austere. The effect is accentuated by the early
morning mist: late at night, the street is lit by the period streetlamps.
The temple
Oyama-jinja, which is considered an Important Cultural Asset, is also in
Kanazawa.
The city is also renowned as a traditional haunt of
ninjas.
As of
2003, the city has an estimated
population of 456,627 and the
density of 976.18 persons per
km². The total area is 467.77 km².
The city was founded on
April 1,
1889.
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