During the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573), as the power of the central shōguns in Kyoto was waning, Kaga Province came under the control of the Ikkō-ikki, followers of the teachings of priest Rennyo, of the Jōdo Shinshū sect, who displaced the official governors of the province, the Togashi clan, and established a kind of theocratic republic later known as "The Peasants' Kingdom."

Backed by high hills and flanked on two sides by rivers, it was a natural fortress, around which a castle town developed.

In 1580, during the Sengoku period (1467 to 1615), Oda Nobunaga sent Shibata Katsuie, and his general Sakuma Morimasa, to conquer the Kaga Ikko-ikki.

The Maeda clan continued to rule Kaga Domain from Kanazawa Castle through the end of the Edo period.

Maeda Toshiie and his successors greatly enlarged Kanazawa Castle and carefully planned the layout of the surrounding jōkamachi to meet strategic and defensive concerns.

[5] Chartered merchants and artisans received economic, social, and political privileges in exchange for moving to the city: they were guaranteed business, exempt from certain taxes, and given pieces of land for shops and residences.

In the 1610s, the construction project diverted the secondary stream into the main river, thus creating usable land, where four new wards opened for chōnin settlement.

The samurai relied on merchants and artisans for goods and services, while the chōnin were able to thrive because of the protection that the daimyō provided.

In those 120 years, the population of the country nearly doubled, reaching approximately 30,000,000, and the percentage of people living in urban towns of more than 10,000 residents grew more than tenfold.

[11] Much of the economic and population growth in Kanazawa, as well as in other Japanese castle towns, occurred during Japan's closed country policy (sakoku).

[citation needed] They facilitated growth in a way that did not require foreign influence, thus contributing to the success and stability of Japan at the time.

[citation needed] Kanazawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 38 members.

In terms of national politics, the city forms the Ishikawa 1st District with one seat in the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

[13] Average temperatures are slightly cooler than those of Tokyo, with means approximately 4 °C (39 °F) in January, 12 °C (54 °F) in April, 27 °C (81 °F) in August, 17 °C (63 °F) in October, and 7 °C (45 °F) in December.

It remains noted for its traditional handicrafts industry, including the production of Kutani ware ceramics, and is a major tourist destination.

Since 14 March 2015, the city is also served by the Hokuriku Shinkansen, shortening the trip from Tokyo to Kanazawa to around 2 and a half hours.

It is considered one of the "three great gardens of Japan" and is filled with a variety of trees, ponds, waterfalls and flowers stretching over 25 acres (10 ha).

It is noted for its imposing three-story Shinmon gate influenced by Dutch design, built in 1875, with its brightly coloured stained-glass windows.

The roofs sloped into a central garden that was designed to allow snow to collect as much as to provide light to the rear.

While the sea of black-glazed tiles sparkling in the sun is a common tourist image of Kanazawa today, the traditional architectural style used wooden boards held down by stones.

And room had to be found for the 14 families with incomes over 3,000 koku and their retainers, not to mention the large number of samurai who arrived from Takaoka (in Toyama Prefecture) with Maeda Toshitsune, the third lord, when he took up his position.

Samurai houses shared a similar basic pattern: a single-floored residence, usually fairly square or rectangular in plan, surrounded by a garden – both the vegetable and the decorative kinds.

(This is because after the Meiji Restoration the samurai found themselves bereft of their traditional income, and many of them ended up selling off their estates, which were turned into fields before being redeveloped as modern housing before World War II.)

Defensive purposes have often been argued for this type of planning, and it is true that the wide spaces, thick walls, and large halls of temples were able to be used as emergency fortifications.

To alleviate crowding from the continual (illegal) inflow of peasants and other migrants, residents were permitted to rent land from neighbouring farmers.

The only major change was the creation of geisha districts (hanamachi) at the foot of Utatsuyama and over the Sai River in 1820, to control and regulate pleasure houses and prostitutes (bath girls; 湯女).

The geisha areas were out of bounds to samurai; they were patronised by rich merchants and artisans, who would compete with each other to spend the most money on parties.

The standard of décor was far higher than most merchant houses, at least to the extent allowed by the Sumptuary Laws that the Shogunate passed.

Due in part to the long gloomy winters, Kaga décor is far brighter than the drab earth browns and greens and ochres of Kyoto style: bold bright scarlets (benigara; 紅柄) and ultramarines were popular.

The city is famous for tea with gold flakes, which is considered by the Japanese people to be good for health and vitality.