Kanazawa City Ashigaru Museum
At the Kanazawa City Ashigaru Museum, feudal-era Japan comes to life once more.
In the feudal era, the size and design of homes were determined by a family’s class and rank. Many houses visible in Nagamachi—with their earthen walls lining the streets, private entrance gates, and gardens just beyond—were the residences of middle-ranking samurai. Those of lower rank, on the other hand, had houses surrounded by hedges, which also enclosed gardens. Visitors can see such a structure in the Kanazawa City Ashigaru Museum.
Preserved at this museum are two of the oldest surviving examples of ashigaru housing. Ashigaru were foot soldiers in feudal Japan. During the Sengoku (“Warring States”) and the Momoyama periods from approximately 1467 to 1600, they made up battalions of archers and gunmen; but in the Kaga domain (feudal-era Ishikawa centered on Kanazawa) during the Edo period (1603–1867), they were designated the lowest rank of the samurai class.
Displayed in the museum are the Takanishi Family House and the Shimizu Family House, two ashigaru residences. Visitors can walk through these historical homes to learn more about ashigaru housing, life, and society.