The Four Seasons of Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen Garden: Spring Illuminations

The spring illuminations are the Golden Week part of The Four Seasons of Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen Garden, a series of seasonal night openings of the two neighbouring sites in Kanazawa. The series runs through the year, from the cherry blossom season to the yukitsuri (雪吊り), the ropes that protect the garden's trees from snow in winter. For its spring part, Kanazawa Castle Park and Kenrokuen Garden stay open after dark for a few evenings with their buildings, stone walls and trees lit up.

Highlights

In Kanazawa Castle Park the lights fall on Ishikawa-mon Gate, Kahoku-mon Gate, Nezumita-mon Gate and the Hishi-yagura turret, and on Gyokusen'inmaru Garden. In Kenrokuen they pick out the Kotoji-toro (徽軫灯籠) stone lantern, the Karasaki pine and the fountain. Concerts and other special performances are held in the gardens during the illuminations, and restaurants in and beside the gardens serve special menus.

The 2026 edition

The 2026 spring illuminations took the yellow-green of new leaves, moegi (萌黄), as their theme. On the first evening, a hayashi percussionist and a flute player performed traditional Japanese music at Uchihashi-tei, a teahouse on Kasumigaike Pond.