The Kanazawa Bunko is a samurai library built in the middle of the Kamakura period by Hojo Sanetoki, a member of the Hojo clan (Kanazawa Hojo clan), within his residence in Mutsuura-sho Kanazawa, Kuraki County, Musashi Province (present-day Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama City). The exact date of its founding is unclear, but it is thought to have been around 1275, during Sanetoki's later years. The collection covers a wide range of topics, including politics, literature, and history, and the collection policy was passed down through three generations of successive generations: Akitoki, Sadaaki, and Sadamasa, who continued to enrich the collection.
The Kanazawa Hojo clan shared the fate of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1333, but the library has since been managed by their neighboring temple, Shomyoji, and has continued into modern times. The current Kanazawa Bunko was rebuilt as a Kanagawa Prefectural facility in 1930, and in 1990 was refurbished and opened as a medieval history museum. The Prefectural Kanazawa Bunko not only preserves precious cultural assets that convey various aspects of the Kamakura period to future generations, but also makes the results of its research and studies public through exhibitions and lectures, and strives to serve as a center for lifelong learning for everyone.