Ishikawa
石川県
Where is Ishikawa?
Ishikawa Prefecture is in the north-western central part of Honshu, facing the Sea of Japan, and belongs to the Chubu (Hokuriku) region. Its capital is Kanazawa.
It borders Toyama to the east, Fukui to the south, and Gifu to the southeast. On the map, it sits on Honshu’s Sea of Japan coast (the opposite side from Tokyo’s Pacific coast) and lies roughly north to northwest of the Kansai and Chubu metropolitan areas.
The Kanazawa area has many historic buildings and serves as a major transportation and sightseeing hub for Hokuriku.
Areas
Discover the unique areas within this prefecture
History of Ishikawa
Ishikawa’s history spans the former provinces of Noto and Kaga. In the late medieval era, Buddhist leagues called the Ikkō-ikki briefly established self-rule. During the Warring States period, Oda Nobunaga’s forces advanced and his retainer Maeda Toshiie made Kanazawa his base; under the Maeda clan in the Edo period, the Kaga Domain became one of Japan’s richest “outside” domains, famed as “Kaga Hyakumangoku” (one million koku of rice). This wealth built Kanazawa’s castle town and fostered arts such as gold leaf, Kaga Yuzen dyeing, Kutani porcelain, and tea culture.
After the Meiji Restoration, Ishikawa took shape as a prefecture; maritime trade on the Kitamaebune (northern sea route) and later railways drove textile and machinery industries. Notable figures include warlords Maeda Toshiie and Maeda Toshinaga; philosophers Nishida Kitarō and D.T. Suzuki (Suzuki Daisetsu); novelist Izumi Kyōka; and poet Murō Saisei.