Kanazawa City 金沢市

Kanazawa is the capital and cultural city of Ishikawa prefecture and the entire Hokuriku region. About 470,000 people live in the medium-sized city, which was spared the destruction of the Second World War. Kanazawa owns one of the three most beautiful gardens of the Edo period: Kenroku-en. The famous landscaped garden of the Maeda family, which adjoins the former Kanazawa castle to the east. Nagamachi, the district with its well-preserved samurai houses is located at the foot of the partly rebuilt castle, and just next to the castle ground is the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the most important works designed by SANAA. Under the Maeda government, the city experienced a cultural flowering, which earned it the name Sho-Kyōto (“Little Kyōto”) to this day.