Ishikawa · Kanazawa NagamachiNo.1155★★Open in map →
Nagamachi Samurai District
A quarter of ochre earth walls and stone lanes below Kanazawa Castle, laid out for the middle ranks of the Kaga domain. The streets are public and free at any hour, and one restored residence, two open sites and the city's oldest canal sit along a single loop.
- FromKanazawa Station
- ~20 minCity bus, frequent
- Get off atKorinbo (Kanazawa Loop Bus)
- On foot
- Nagamachi Samurai District
The sweet spot
This is one of Kanazawa's headline sights, not a secret. What keeps it calm is that people still live here. There are no shop fronts lining the route the way they line the teahouse districts, so visitors spread out along the walls instead of collecting in one place.
Where it is
16 more notes in Ishikawa · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Onosho Canalthe oldest waterway in Kanazawa, running fast along the eastern edge of the quarter
- The earthen-wall lanesochre plaster walls above stone paving, with pine crowns and triangular gables showing over the top
- Nomura Samurai Residencethe one house in the quarter whose interior is open, with a garden fed by the canal
- Takada Family Residence Sitea restored nagayamon gate with a stable, a servants' room and a pond garden behind
- Kanazawa Ashigaru Museumfoot-soldier houses moved here from elsewhere in the city and furnished, free to enter
How to actually get there
- Kanazawa Station east exit → Korinbo (Kanazawa Loop Bus, or any southbound Hokutetsu route bus).
- Korinbo → the earthen-wall lanes (walk west off the main road).
- Follow the loop: the Onosho canal and the walls, then the Nomura residence, the Takada family site and the Ashigaru museum.
- Return to Korinbo for the bus back, or carry on by foot to Oyama Shrine and the castle park.
- City bus from Kanazawa Station to Korinbo
- Kanazawa Station east exit →(Kanazawa Loop Bus, Hokutetsu route bus or Nishinihon JR bus, roughly 10 to 15 minutes)→ Korinbo, then west on foot into the lanes. Buses along this corridor are frequent, so there is no timetable to plan around.
- Return from Korinbo
- Korinbo sits on the main bus corridor back to Kanazawa Station, and ordinary route buses run into the evening. The Kanazawa Loop Bus itself finishes in the early evening, so after that take a Hokutetsu route bus from the same stop.
About the place
Nagamachi lies southwest of Kanazawa Castle, on the ground between two irrigation channels, the Kuratsuki and the Onosho. The households here were hirazamurai, the middle ranks of the Kaga domain, and the street pattern still shows it. Long earth walls run unbroken, gateways sit back from the lane, and pine crowns and triangular gables rise above the plaster. The city's landscape rules cover the whole quarter, not only the properties that open to visitors, which is why the walls continue past private homes. The lanes themselves are working residential streets. A short loop links three former properties, one from each rank of retainer.
How to enjoy it
Walk the loop the city tourist association suggests from Korinbo and you meet the ranks in order, from foot soldier to middle retainer to the Nomura house, which makes the difference in gate, garden and ceiling obvious. From early December the walls are hung with komo, straw mats tied on to stop wet snow from stripping the plaster, and the quarter reads as a different place until spring. Time the walk so the open properties are still unlocked, since they close in the late afternoon.
Background & history
Nagamachi grew as housing for retainers of the Maeda family, who governed the Kaga domain from Kanazawa Castle through the Edo period. The households along these lanes were hirazamurai, salaried samurai below the senior councillors, and the height of a wall and the form of a gate followed rank rather than taste. The Onosho canal at the eastern edge is reckoned the oldest waterway in Kanazawa, and it is still drawn into the garden of the Nomura residence as a winding stream. The city has since designated the quarter and its surroundings a landscape district, the first of its kind in the Hokuriku region.
Before you go
- Cash
- The lanes are public streets with no admission. The Nomura residence charges 550 yen for an adult at the time of checking, and the Kanazawa Ashigaru Museum is free. The loop bus is 220 yen a ride, or 800 yen for a one-day pass.
- Before you go
- The lanes are narrow and residential, used by cars and cycles, and the plaster walls are private property. From early December the walls are covered with straw mats against wet snow, and the stone paving turns slippery. The open properties shut in the late afternoon, and earlier from October through March than in summer.
- Another way
- The Kanazawa Flat Bus (Nagamachi route) calls at Nagamachi Bukeyashiki-ato, a minute from the walls, and threads the back streets rather than the main road.
- After you get off
- From Korinbo, cross to the west side of Hyakumangoku-dori and walk about five minutes into the side streets. The earth walls begin as soon as you leave the main road.