Kanazawa Castle
金沢城36°34′ N 136°40′ ECastle1583 onward (Maeda rule); Ishikawa-mon…
Kanazawa Castle suits history lovers and families who want a free park of rebuilt gates and old stone walls, and its trade-off is that no keep survives.
Photo Benh LIEU SONG from Torcy, France · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Visiting with care · Partly open
Ishikawa Prefecture opened the wall repair site to guided tours on 14 and 15 November 2026.
- Stone walls damaged in the 2024 earthquake are under repair, and some areas are fenced off while work continues.
- Stay off the old stone walls; many are under repair after the 2024 earthquake.
Related places
Maeda Toshiie entered Kanazawa Castle in 1583, and his clan ruled the Kaga domain from here until the end of the Edo period. Lightning burned the original keep in 1602, and the lords never rebuilt it. Ishikawa-mon, rebuilt in 1788 after a great fire, survives as an Important Cultural Property, and Ishikawa Prefecture has rebuilt other turrets and gates, among them Kahoku-mon in 2010 and Nezumita-mon in 2020. Work is now under way to restore the Ninomaru palace.
The castle's walls are known for their variety of stonework, and several sections were damaged in the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. The prefecture shows the repairs on its castle site and runs tours of the work. The park is free and sits across the road from Kenroku-en.
Worth knowing
- Walk the park at dawn; the gates open as early as 4:00 from April to August for walkers, before the turrets open.
Quick answers about Kanazawa Castleよくある質問
Can you visit Kanazawa Castle?
Partly open. Stone walls damaged in the 2024 earthquake are under repair, and some areas are fenced off while work continues.
What are the opening hours of Kanazawa Castle?
Kanazawa Castle keeps these hours: Daily 07:00–18:00.
How should you behave at Kanazawa Castle?
At Kanazawa Castle: Stay off the old stone walls; many are under repair after the 2024 earthquake.
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