Kenroku-en

Kenroku-en (兼六園, Six Attributes Garden), located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, is an old private garden developed from the 1620s to 1840s by the Maeda clan, the daimyo who ruled the former Kaga Domain.

Along with Kairaku-en and Koraku-en, Kenroku-en is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. It is open year-round during daylight hours and famous for its beauty in all seasons; an admission fee is charged.

The garden is located outside the gates of Kanazawa Castle where it originally formed the outer garden, and covers 114,436.65 m² (over 25 acres). It began in 1676 when the 5th lord Maeda Tsunanori moved his administration to the castle and began to landscape a garden in this vicinity. This garden was, however, destroyed by fire in 1759. Its restoration was begun in 1774 by the 11th lord Harunaga, who created the Emerald Waterfall (Midori-taki) and Yugao-tei, a teahouse. Improvements continued in 1822 when the 12th lord Narinaga created the garden's winding streams with water drawn from the Tatsumi Waterway. The 13th lord Nariyasu subsequently added more streams and expanded the Kasumi Pond. With this, the garden's current form was complete. The garden was opened to the public on May 7, 1874.

The garden was named by Matsudaira Sadanobu at the request of Narinaga. Its name was derived from the "Chronicles of the Famous Luoyang Gardens" (洛陽名園記), a book by the Chinese poet Li Gefei (李格非), and stands for the six attributes of a perfect landscape: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, waterways, and panoramas.

Kenroku-en contains roughly 8,750 trees, and 183 species of plants in total. Among the garden's points of special interest are

  • the oldest fountain in Japan, powered by the difference in heights of two ponds
  • Yugao-tei, a teahouse, the oldest building in the garden, built 1774
  • Shigure-tei, a rest House that was originally built by the 5th lord Tsunanori, reconstructed at its present location in 2000
  • Karasaki Pine, planted from seed by the 13th lord Nariyasu from Karasaki, near Lake Biwa.
  • Kotoji-tōrō, a stone lantern with two legs, said to resemble the bridge on a koto. This lantern is emblematic of Kenroku-en and Kanazawa.
  • Flying Geese Bridge (Gankō-bashi), made of eleven red stones, laid out to resemble geese in a flying formation
  • Kaiseki Pagoda, said to have been donated to the Maeda by Toyotomi Hideyoshi

In winter, the park is notable for its yukitsuri — ropes attached in a conical array to carefully support tree branches in the desired arrangements, thereby protecting the trees from damage caused by heavy snows.

References

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Eric Dallemagne
20 August 2017
Kenrokuen is 1 of Japan’s top 3 most beautiful gardens. The garden’s scenery was spectacular. It included ponds, fountains, waterfalls, bridges, lanterns, tea houses and all sorts of amazing trees.
亜米利加
8 January 2018
Free entry if you’re over 65. Otherwise, 310 yen. Get an English tour if you don’t speak English - the desk is through Ishikawa Gate, turn right and go straight about 2 mins.
Prima C
23 October 2013
Kenroku-en (Six Attributes Garden) is an old private garden and one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan besides Kairaku-en and Koraku-en. It's open at night during sakura season.
Akku chan
28 November 2017
子供の頃から庭のように何度も訪れていた兼六園ですが、夜にライトアップされた兼六園は初めて。水面に映る徽軫灯籠や雪吊りはとても美しく、兼六園の新たな一面を発見しました!金沢城・兼六園ライトアップは四季それぞれ一定期間に開催され、入場は無料!開催日は次のURLでチェック!http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/event/
Nao
11 August 2016
文化財指定庭園 特別名勝。美しい日本庭園と立派な松の木が印象的。中でも印象に残った根上松(ねあがりまつ)。大小の多くの根が地上2mにまでせり上がっており本当にお見事。この松は、13代藩主・前田斉泰が土を盛り上げて若松を植え、成長後に土を除いて根をあらわにしたものだと伝えられています。
ナイトホーク へ(ё)へ from 加賀百万石都市金沢
2月のライトアップ無料開放やっていますが、ものすごく寒い。防寒具やカイロの用意を!!手袋もあったほうがいいかも。/Kenroku-en is very cold in winter night.So,if you don't want to catch cold,You'd take a warm suit,gloves and a portable body warmer.
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