Kenroku-en (Japanese: 兼六園) is an old private garden located in Kanazawa (金澤) City, Ishikawa (石川) County, Japan. Along with Kairaku-en (偕樂園) and Kōraku-en (後樂園), Kenroku-en is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan.
Kenroku-en is famous for its beauty in all seasons, containing roughly 8,750 trees and 183 species of plants in total, most of them are pines.
The name of Kenroku-en was derived from a book written by Chinese poet Li Gefei (李格非) in the early 10th century, and stands for the six attributes of a perfect garden: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, waterways, and panoramas.
There are many interesting scenic spots in Kenroku-en, such as this old root named ‘Dragon Head’, very convincing.
The origin of Kenroku-en is unclear, it can perhaps be marked by the completion of the water channel in 1632 by the powerful the Maeda Shi (前田氏), the daimyōs who ruled the former Kaga Domain (加賀藩).
Kenroku-en is notable for its Yukitsuri (雪吊) in winter. Yukitsuri is the structure of ropes attached in a conical array to support tree branches in the desired arrangements, thereby protecting the trees from damage caused by heavy snows.
Kenroku Garden is very big in area, Choumeizai recommends you guys check the map and study the route before going around.
There is a small hill next to Kasumi Pond (霞池), from the pavilion on the top, you can overlook most of the pond, and the scenery is very beautiful.
