The Nomura House is a restored residence of the Nomura, a highly ranked samurai family who, like many other samurai families, went broke when Japan's feudal era came to an end when the Meiji Period started in the mid 1800's. Until that point, the Nomura family had been at the location seen in this photo for 12 generations starting with Nomura Denbei Nobusada at the end of the 16th century. Currently the Nomura Family House provides a sense of the life-style of samurai during the Edo period (early 1600's to mid 1800's) when Japan was isolated from much of the outside world.
The Naga-machi Samurai District is located near the former Kanazawa Castle. Upper and middle class samurais and their families lived in this district between roughly the late 1500's and the mid 1800's. The District was named after the Naga Clan whose samurai retainers lived here. The atmosphere from those times has been preserved or restored - with narrow lanes, water canals, gates, entrances and structures, appearing as they were when samurais lived here. Part of the Onosho Water Canal flows around this District. It is the oldest canal in Kanazawa and was an important waterway for transporting goods from the Sea of Japan to this castle town during the Edo Period. The walls surrounding the houses (as those seen here) are made of stone and mud and then molded just as it was done when the samurais lived here. After the combination hardens it is covered with ochre-colored wooden plates (also seen here). Some of the walls are over 100 years old - all the walls have been restored or rebuilt. Dark wooden gates to the houses also were typical. Most of the buildings in this District are private residences.
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