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The Nagamachi Samurai District is an area where earthen walls and cobblestone lanes let you stroll through the lingering atmosphere of the castle town of the wealthy Kaga domain. In one corner stands a garden newly opened to the public in 2025: Senda-ke Garden.
The garden was created by a former Kaga-clan samurai named Senda, who lived in Kanazawa after the dawn of the Meiji era. Drawing canal water into a private residence had not been permitted under the domain’s rule; only in the Meiji era did it become possible. Finally able to fulfill this wish, he built a garden at his own residence, modeling it on Kenrokuen, the garden he so admired. His longing for Kaga’s finest garden is distilled into this single plot.
This article introduces the highlights of Senda-ke Garden.
Senda-ke Garden is a Japanese garden in the Nagamachi Samurai District of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is a pond-style strolling garden (chisen-kaiyū-shiki) created in 1894 (Meiji 27) by a former Kaga-clan samurai named Senda, modeled on Kenrokuen, regarded as one of Japan’s three great gardens. Open to the public since April 2025, it is designated a Kanazawa City Place of Scenic Beauty (meishō).
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Senda - ke Garden |
| Hours | 9:30 am–5:00 pm |
| Closed | Mondays and Thursdays / event days |
| Admission | Adults ¥700 / Children ¥500 (ages 6–12) |
| Phone | 080-8735-9695 |
| Access | About a 5 - minute walk from the Korinbo bus stop / about a 1 - minute walk from the Nagamachi Buke Yashiki stop on the Kanazawa Flat Bus Nagamachi route |
| Address | 1 - 4-22 Nagamachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920 - 0865 |
| Official Site | https://www.sendake-garden.com |
Senda-ke Garden is a “pond-style strolling garden” (chisen-kaiyū-shiki), with an artificial hill (tsukiyama) encircling a central pond. The pond, the hill, and the stream drawn from a canal — the very elements that define Kenrokuen — are all brought into this residential garden.
Water is the star of this garden. It is drawn from the Onosho Canal (Ōnoshō yōsui), Kanazawa’s oldest canal, which was also used in the construction of Kanazawa Castle. The water circles the artificial hill and then flows back into the canal. Kenrokuen, too, channels water from the Tatsumi Canal (Tatsumi yōsui) throughout its grounds. Drawing a castle-town canal into a garden is a design unique to Kanazawa.
Sweetfish (ayu) swim in the pond, fireflies appear in summer, and herons can be seen in winter. The garden trees are mainly red pine and black pine, while satsuki azaleas and rabbitear iris (kakitsubata) are planted around the pond.
At the back of the garden is a waterfall. The flow, which had been stopped for a long time, was revived for the first time in about a century, bringing the sound of water back to life.
A stone bridge built from red Tomuro stone (aka-tomuro-ishi), quarried in the Kaga region, spans the pond. On it sits a small stone bound with rope (tome-ishi) — a quiet Japanese garden signal meaning that you should not go beyond this point.
There is also a feature to enjoy with your ears. The suikinkutsu — a traditional garden device handed down since the mid-Edo period — is a remarkable thing in which water dripping into a buried earthen jar produces a soft, koto-like chime from underground.
A large earthen jar (kame) is buried in the ground, and water droplets fall into the hollow space it creates below. The structure echoes the sound produced at that moment — one of the garden techniques devised during the Edo period.
It makes a truly mysterious sound, so be sure to listen for it.
Senda-ke Garden is run by the owner couple and their staff, who give thorough explanations of everything from the history of the Senda family to the garden itself. Explanations in English are also available.
Senda-ke Garden was created out of admiration for Kenrokuen. A stream drawn from a castle-town canal, a waterfall revived after about a century, a red Tomuro stone bridge, and a suikinkutsu echoing underground — the scenery of Kaga’s representative garden is captured within a single residence.
In the same Nagamachi district stands the celebrated garden of the Nomura Samurai Residence, which earned a Michelin star. Unlike such formal, prestigious gardens, Senda-ke Garden is an intimate, modestly scaled garden born from a longing for Kenrokuen. Here you can see the waterfall and stone bridge up close while listening to the sound of water.
Today, the fourth-generation couple has succeeded as head of the family, welcoming visitors into the garden.
A garden long kept by the family alone has, since 2025, finally become a place anyone can visit. A visit takes about 20 minutes, letting you enjoy a beautiful Japanese garden.
When exploring Nagamachi, be sure to pay a visit to Senda-ke Garden.
