Kanazawa grew up around the castle, which bore the same name. Kanazawa castle was built in the late XVI century, under its walls formed a quarter of Nagamachi, which settled the samurai with their families. On the appearance of a samurai residence, in her design of various parts and materials and even at the height of the Adobe wall of the house it was possible to judge how wealthy were the owners.

Currently Kanazawa castle is a reconstruction made after the fire of 1881. During the Meiji many samurai went bankrupt, however, in the quarter of Nagamachi managed to preserve the atmosphere of samurai Japan. Here are the same as at the time of winding narrow streets, paved with stone, the channels of water, mud walls and houses bucatsika under tiled roofs, some of which have been turned into museums, where all the details presents the life of a samurai family. This Museum, in particular, was the home of a wealthy Mr. Nomura, which is surrounded by a beautiful garden. The high abundance here testify ceilings of cypress, glass sliding doors in the house, as well as bridges and lanterns in the garden.

In the construction of houses in Nagamachi often used solid wood, it did fold large entrance gate, ceiling beams.
Adobe walls from time to time to revitalize, to preserve the historic character of the neighborhood. To protect them from rain and snow, the walls are closing straw in winter and spring.

Water channel Onoda is one of the oldest in Kanazawa and was used for the delivery of goods to the castle. Other channel – Tatsumi – water nourishes the garden of Kenrokuen, bringing her out of the river Saigawa. These two channels have played a major role in the life of the city and district. First, thanks to them, the city looks so green and flourishing. Secondly, the presence of large amounts of water have prevented many fires, from which in Japan often suffered castles, temples and other places of interest.

In addition, Nagamachi is the center of silk Uzan, which is used for making formal kimono. During its production, the dyeing process includes 18 stages.