Kanazawa Bunko: A Storehouse of Knowledge and Cultural Memory

Kanazawa Bunko Museum 

(Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture)

【Bunko（文庫）】 is a repository or archive where documents and books are stored, a curated collection of written works. Since ancient times, knowledge and information recorded in writing have been of vital importance to humankind. A bunko serves as a “warehouse of knowledge” and a “memory device of culture.”

Bunko comes in many forms and sizes. Some are personal collections gathered for hobbies or research, while others are large archives once owned by the authorities of their time. In ancient and medieval times, nobles and Buddhist monks collected books for educational or religious study, storing them in private residences or temple libraries. As samurai rose to political power, bunko established by the samurai class also began to emerge.

One of the earliest bunko established by samurai was the Kanazawa Bunko, located in present-day Yokohama. It was founded in the late 13th century by Hōjō Sanetoki, a grandson of the second regent of the Kamakura shogunate, Japan’s first samurai-led government. Sanetoki served successive regents from the fourth through the eighth and held key governmental positions.

Around 1275, after retiring from political life, he built a villa in Kanazawa and established a library on its grounds. The collection was vast and diverse, including Buddhist scriptures, historical records, military strategy texts, agricultural manuals, medical books, legal documents, and literary works. After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, the bunko declined, and many materials were lost or dispersed. Some books were taken away by later regimes. However, thanks to the neighboring Shōmyōji Temple, many of the books were preserved and handed down through generations. Today, more than 4,000 documents have been designated as National Treasures for their historical value.

One such treasure is the “Monzen Shūchū”, an annotated edition of an ancient Chinese poetry anthology. It serves as a kind of “study guide” for understanding classical Chinese poetry and is considered extremely rare, even in China, no other copy is known to exist. In addition, a number of letters exchanged by the Hōjō family have been preserved, offering scholars valuable insight into the lives and thinking of those in power.

Shōmyōji Temple itself was also founded by Sanetoki. As it serves as the family temple of the Hōjō clan, you can find the family crest of three triangles throughout the temple grounds. Beyond the Deva Gate lies a beautiful Jōdo-style (Pure Land) garden, where a vermilion-lacquered arched bridge spans a central pond. Its shape is reflected on the water’s surface throughout the seasons―pink cherry blossoms in spring, yellow irises in early summer, and crimson maples alongside a golden ginkgo tree, over 800 years old, in autumn.

Along with the temple, the Kanazawa Bunko Museum offers visitors the opportunity to connect with the intellectual curiosity of scholars and leaders who sought knowledge over 800 years ago.

Please visit the official website the Kanazawa Bunko Museum.