Kanazawa Bunko

About

Set within the grounds of Shomyoji Temple in Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama, the Kanazawa Bunko traces its origins to a library founded around 1275 by Hojo Sanetoki, a powerful figure in the Kamakura shogunate. It is described as the oldest library established by a samurai family in Japan. In the modern era, a reading hall was built on the temple grounds in 1897 with support from Ito Hirobumi and others, but it was damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake. A new two-story reinforced-concrete building in a Japanese architectural style was completed in 1929, and the following year, on August 9, 1930, it was reestablished as Kanagawa Prefecture's first prefectural library under the Library Law. After the separate Kanagawa Prefectural Library opened in 1954, the Bunko's role shifted toward that of a museum, and it became a registered museum in 1955. In 1990 it moved to its current building on the same grounds, part of an effort to preserve the historic precinct of Shomyoji. Documents handed down through Shomyoji — 16,692 items known as the Shomyoji Shogyo and 4,149 documents known as the Kanazawa Bunko Monjo — were jointly designated National Treasures in 2016. The museum is open from 9:00 to 16:30; the permanent exhibition is free, and admission to special exhibitions is 250 yen for adults.