Perspective of Utilization and Management of Kenrokuen Garden

Kenrokuen garden located to the south of Kanazawa castle was a villa garden of the Maeda family, the lord of the Kaga domain in the Edo period (1603-1868). The lower garden known as Renchi-tei (Lotus pond garden) was first built in the late 17th century and the upper garden called Chitosedai was incorporated into it around 1860, the last stage of the Edo period. After the Meiji restoration, it was designated as a public garden in 1874, and as a place of scenic beauty in 1922 based on the Historic Site, Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument Preservation Law. Kenrokuen garden is now directly managed by Ishikawa prefectural government, and the garden elements such as streams, ponds, stones and more than 10,000 trees including 74 visually important trees are generally well maintained. In recent years, visitors to Kenrokuen garden count nearly 3,000,000 along with the rapid increase of number　of tourists to Kanazawa city. The number of international tourists to the garden has also rapidly increased. In this paper, the following proposals for the better management of Kenrokuen garden are suggested based on the site evaluation and available data such as visitor numbers and entrance fee. 1. Entrance fee and extent of persons of free admission should be appropriately reconsidered, and the problem of “over capacity” should be solved. 2. Number of visitors for whole seasons should be balanced as much as possible. 3. Events focusing on its cultural and historic values should be planned and implemented. 4. The external appearance of shops inside the garden should be modified.