Enjoy Buddhist art through national treasures

The Kanazawa Bunko is a samurai library established in the mid-Kamakura period by Hojo Sanetoki, a member of the Hojo clan (the Kanazawa Hojo clan), within his residence in Kanazawa, Mutsuura-sho, Kuraki-gun, Musashi Province (present-day Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama City). The exact date of its founding is unclear, but it is thought to have been around Kenji 1 (1275), in the later years of Sanetoki's life. The collection encompasses a wide range of subjects, including politics, literature, and history, and the collection policy was continued by three generations of the Hojo family—Akitoki, Sadaaki, and Sadamasa—to further enrich the collection.

The Kanazawa Hojo clan met their fate in 1333, when the Kamakura Shogunate fell. After that, the library was managed by the neighboring Shōmyōji Temple, their family temple, until modern times. The current Kanazawa Bunko was rebuilt in 1930 as a Kanagawa Prefecture facility, and since 1990, it has been operating as a medieval history museum with a new look. The Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa Bunko aims to pass on valuable cultural assets that convey various aspects of the Kamakura period to future generations, and to make the results of its research and studies public through exhibitions and lectures. It also strives to serve as a center for lifelong learning for the public.