Visiting Kenrokuen Gardens - Kanazawa, Japan

January 2025

Visiting Kenrokuen Gardens – Kanazawa, Japan

One of the best activities when visiting Kanazawa is exploring the Kenrokuen Gardens. These gardens are one of the most famous gardens in all of Japan and holds a spot as one of the three great gardens in the country. Kenrokuen means “Garden of the Six Sublimities” and references the six sublimites or attributes that make the garden so perfect – spaciousness, tranquility, antiquity, water features, scenic views, and artifice.

The garden features over 8,200 trees and over 160 species throughout the park that spans over 11 hectares / 25 acres. While our visit was over the winter season, the spring time photos are simply stunning with blossoms of all kinds. Wintertime has a different charm and if you are lucky to visit with snow blanketed gardens, that is extra special. Entrance to the park is 320 yen and you can also purchase a two attraction ticket for 500 yen if you plan on visiting Kanazawa Castle next door.

Make sure to grab a map as it outlines a few different routes you can take to enjoy the gardens as well as seasonal plants to look for each month of the year. There are many sections of the gardens to explore and a completionist can spend several hours in this park alone. It is great for photographers as well as there are so many beautiful opportunities for a great shot. Sites of interest along the various trails include:

Panoramic View Point
Kotoji Stone Lantern
Karasaki Pine Tree
Kasumiga-ike Pond
Kenroku-en Kiku Zakura
Neagari-no-Matsu Raised Roots Pine
Hanami-Bashi Flower Viewing Bridge
Meji Monument
Shichi-Fukujin-Yama Seven Lucky Gods Hill
Gankou-Bashi Flying Geese Bridge
Yamazaki-yama Hill
Plum Grove Garden
Fountain
Hisago-ike Pond
Various tea houses along the route

Our favorite sections included the Kasumigike Pond which is the center and gem of the entire park. There is an island in the middle – Horai Island – and the pond with this island symbolizes long life and eternal prosperity. It is extremely peaceful and scenic, along with having birds and ducks as frequent visitors which we thoroughly enjoyed observing.

One feature we observed were ropes around many of the trees. At first, we mistook them for Christmas decor as it made the trees all look like Christmas trees and our visit was just after the holiday. We quickly learned we were wrong and instead, this is a traditional technique called yukisuri which means “snow hanging”. These ropes are meant to protect the tree branches from the heavy snow which could potentially damage these ancient trees. Sometimes, bamboo poles are used to support larger branches and resemble a crutch.

The next area we loved we almost missed – Hisagoike Pond. And while this is probably limited to us, we had the best bird watching in this area. There was a white egret, Japanese cormorant, and a great blue heron – so amazing! We spent quite a bit of time here observing the birds catching small fish in a pond full of giant koi fish that seemed quite unbothered by all the activity.