The Kenroku-en Garden is one of Japan’s most famous gardens, and is often listed as one of the “Three Great Gardens of Japan”. The Kenroku-en Gardens can be found in Kanazawa City, a short walk from the equally famous Kanazawa Castle. 

Kenroku-en was originally the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle and dates back to the Edo period, around the 1620’s. It was developed by the ruling Maeda family. The Maeda Clan was among the wealthiest clans in Japan at the time, and the gardens and castle reflect this, with the garden grounds alone covering 25 Acres (10.11 Hectares). The gardens were privately controlled by the Maeda clan, but were later open to the public in the mid 1870’s. 

One of the gardens key features is the Kasumi-ga-ike Pond, a central pond that serves as the garden’s focal point. Along the shores of this pond, you can find the iconic Kotoji Toro stone lantern (the two-legged lantern). This lantern is an iconic image of Kenroku-en and Kanazawa itself. The stone lantern is an icon of Kanazawa due to it’s unique appearance among other stone lanterns across Japan, and encapsulates the Japanese artistic aesthetic of Wabi-sabi – the art of simplicity, imperfection and natural beauty. Standing on the shores of the pond, the stone lantern creates a picture perfect scene.