Kenroku-en, Japanese strolling garden in Kanazawa, Japan.
Kenroku-en is a Japanese strolling garden in Kanazawa, Japan, covering 25 hectares with multiple ponds, streams, hills, and winding paths. The layout creates changing views from every angle through deliberate placement of trees, stones, and water features.
Maeda Tsunanori established the garden in 1676 as part of the Kanazawa Castle grounds owned by the Maeda family. After the collapse of the feudal system, the garden opened its gates to the public in 1874.
The name combines six attributes rarely found together in traditional gardens: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, water, and views. Visitors follow winding paths between ponds, over bridges, and through groves, with each bend revealing a new scene.
Regular buses from Kanazawa Station stop directly at the entrance, making access easy for the more than 2.5 million annual visitors. Paths are generally maintained, but some sections can become slippery after rain.
The Kotojitoro stone lantern stands on a small peninsula in the central pond, balanced on two legs in a design found nowhere else in Japan. Each of the two legs rests on a separate stone in the water, making the construction particularly noticeable.
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