Kanazawa Castle Park and Ishikawa Gate: Walls, Roofs and Lawns

Kanazawa Castle Park combines open lawns with a gate from 1788, white lead-tiled roofs and a famous collection of stone walls, and entry to the grounds is free.

Published October 19, 2026 at 1:52 PM JST | By Tokyo Paul

Quick answer: Kanazawa Castle Park is the former seat of the Maeda family, lords of the Kaga Domain. The grounds are free to enter, and highlights include Ishikawa Gate (rebuilt in 1788), the Hishi Yagura turret restored in 2001 with lead roof tiles, and many styles of stone wall. Hours and fees for interior buildings can change.

The castle of the Maeda family

Kanazawa Castle was the home of the Maeda family, lords of the Kaga Domain, whose lands in Kaga, Noto and Etchu were assessed at more than one million koku of rice. That rating, often called hyakumangoku, made Kaga the richest domain in Japan after the shogun's own lands. Maeda Toshiie, the first lord, ordered the castle rebuilt in 1592, and later generations enlarged it.

Castle life was not peaceful in the physical sense. Fire struck several times in the castle's history. The main keep burned in 1602 and was never replaced, and the castle burned again in 1631 and during the Great Kanazawa Fire of 1759. A fire in 1881 destroyed most of the buildings that survived in the Ni-no-maru, the second enclosure. What remains today is a mix of original structures and careful reconstructions.

This history explains why the park feels both ancient and new. A few buildings are genuinely old, while others were rebuilt by traditional methods in recent decades, and the stone foundations tie everything together. Knowing which is which makes a walk through the grounds more interesting.

Ishikawa Gate, the original survivor

Ishikawa Gate (Ishikawa-mon) is the best-known original structure, and it is usually the first thing visitors photograph. The present gate dates from 1788 and is designated an Important Cultural Property. It was the castle's rear gate, and it is built as a boxed entrance with two turrets and two gatehouses around an enclosed square. In total, the gate complex is made up of several connected structures.

The square design (a masugata) was a defensive idea. An attacker who broke through the first gate would find himself in a small walled yard, facing the second gate, exposed to the turrets on either side. In peaceful times the layout simply makes a grand, balanced entrance.

The gate stands across from Kenrokuen garden, which began as the outer garden of the castle, so the two attractions are normally visited together. The roofs and white wall plaster reward a slow look, and the gate makes a natural meeting point before or after the garden.

Lead roof tiles and white walls

Many of the buildings at Kanazawa Castle are covered in pale gray-white roof tiles that look different from the dark ceramic tiles seen on temples and many castles. These tiles are made of lead. The Ishikawa Prefecture castle site explains that the tiles on Hishi Yagura are 1.8 millimeters thick and contain a little copper. Lead is fireproof, and the material is often explained as a good fit for a region with heavy winter snow.

A popular legend says that in a siege the tiles could be melted down for bullets. Treat it as a story, since historians describe it as a legend. The fireproofing and snow-shedding qualities are more practical reasons for the choice.

The walls beneath such roofs are often finished in namako kabe, a plaster pattern in which flat tiles are attached to an earthen wall and the joints are sealed with raised white plaster. The grid pattern gives the buildings their crisp black-and-white look, and the finish also helps protect against weather.

Hishi Yagura and the long storehouses

Hishi Yagura (the Diamond Turret) is a three-story watchtower named for the diamond shape of its sides, whose angles measure 80 and 100 degrees. It was the tallest building in the Ni-no-maru and a symbol of the castle. It was restored in 2001 using traditional construction methods, along with the long storehouse called Gojukken Nagaya and the Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki-yagura turret that overlooks the gate.

The buildings include ishi-otoshi, small openings from which defenders could drop stones. Their layout also shows how the Ni-no-maru was meant to be controlled from above. Entering the interiors costs a separate admission, described in the visiting section below.

Another surviving original is the Sanjikken Nagaya, a storehouse built in 1858 that is about 50 meters long and has lead roof tiles. It is an Important Cultural Property, and the Tsurumaru storehouse (completed in 1848) is another older building in the grounds, so a slow walk takes in several periods of building.

A museum of stone walls

Kanazawa Castle is nicknamed the "museum of stone walls" because its walls use many different masonry styles. Some are made from carefully cut stone fitted tightly together, a technique called kiri-ishi-zumi, and the Dobashi-mon wall includes a hexagonal stone known as kikko-ishi (turtle-shell stone), which local lore links with good fortune and protection from fire. Walking the perimeter turns into a lesson in how builders solved the same problem in different ways.

The tallest wall along the inner moat rises 11.7 meters. Parts of the walls were damaged in the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, and the prefecture is restoring them stone by stone using traditional methods. The castle site publishes a page on the status of this restoration. That ongoing work is a reminder that these walls are living structures that need care.

Repairs may be underway during a visit, and some areas can be fenced off. The official site posts current notices about closed sections and the repair schedule, so check it before the trip and plan a flexible route.

Rebuilding the castle in modern times

After the castle era ended, the grounds served other purposes. The army used the site, and the upper part of a moat called Imori-bori was filled in during 1907. From 1949 to 1989, the castle site served as the campus of Kanazawa University. Once the university moved, the prefecture began a long project to bring back the castle's character.

The restoration has proceeded in stages, using traditional carpentry and plastering. Hishi Yagura and its connected buildings were restored in 2001, and the Hashizume-mon outer gate was restored in the same year. A platform called Riko-yagura-dai was restored together with the Imori-bori moat in 2010, and the Hashizume-mon inner gate followed in March 2015.

Work continues. The Ninomaru Palace, once the largest building in the castle and the domain's administrative center, is being reconstructed in stages, with ground broken in 2025, and the stone walls damaged by the 2024 earthquake are under repair. Because of this steady progress, returning visitors may find something new each time.

Lawns, gardens and visiting basics

Beyond the buildings, the park is known for wide open lawns, which make it a pleasant place to rest or picnic when the weather is good. The grounds include Gyokusen'inmaru Garden, which has a rest area serving matcha with seasonal sweets and a panoramic view, and Shissei-en, a wetland garden planted with water plants such as Japanese iris.

The park grounds open early and close in the early evening, with hours that shift by season (commonly listed as 7:00 to 18:00 from March 1 to October 15, and 8:00 to 17:00 for the rest of the year). Entry to the grounds is free, while interior buildings such as Hishi Yagura charge a separate admission, which the prefecture's ticket page listed at 320 yen for adults and 100 yen for ages 6 to 17, with free entry for visitors 65 and over who show ID. The buildings are listed as open daily from 9:00 to 16:30. Prices and hours can change, so confirm them on the official site.

The castle is a short walk from Kenrokuen, the 21st Century Museum and the central Korinbo district. A relaxed visit takes about one to two hours for the park alone, longer if the interiors and gardens are included.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kanazawa Castle Park free to enter?

The park grounds are free to enter, according to the Ishikawa Prefecture castle site. Interior buildings such as Hishi Yagura, Gojukken Nagaya and Hashizume-mon charge a separate fee, which was listed at 320 yen for adults. Prices, hours and entry rules can change, so check the official information before visiting.

What is special about Ishikawa Gate?

Ishikawa Gate is the castle's best-known surviving original gate. The present structure dates to 1788 and is an Important Cultural Property. It was the rear gate and is built in a boxed style, with an enclosure linking two turrets and two gatehouses. It is a good place to see traditional lead roofs and white plaster walls up close.

Why are the castle roofs gray and white?

The roofs use lead tiles, which look pale and are resistant to fire. On Hishi Yagura the tiles are about 1.8 millimeters thick. A popular legend says the tiles could be melted into bullets in an emergency, but this is a story rather than a documented practice. The walls often use a white plaster pattern called namako kabe.

Want to go deeper? Tokyo Paul's book Kanazawa Photo Book is available on Amazon.

Keep Exploring

More guides from Tokyo Paul: Nagamachi: Kanazawa's Samurai Residence District, Kanazawa Gold Leaf: Japan's Capital of Kinpaku and Kenrokuen: Kanazawa's Garden of Six Attributes.