[1] Along with Kairaku-en and Kōraku-en, Kenroku-en is considered one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan and is noted for its beauty across all seasons, particularly in winter.

Spread over nearly 25 acres, features of the landscape include meandering paths, a large pond, several tea houses, and one of Japan's oldest fountains.

[4] Kenroku-en was developed from the 1620s to the 1840s by the Maeda clan, the daimyōs (feudal lords) who ruled the former Kaga Domain.

Another object that existed in or around the garden before the fire of 1759 was the Kaiseki Pagoda (海石塔, Kaiseki-tō), which is currently situated in Kenroku-en on an island near the center of Hisago Pond (瓢池, Hisago-ike).

[attribution needed][11] Since these military incursions by Kato Kiyomasa probably took place between 1592 and 1598, and as Hideyoshi died in 1598, if the second theory is true, then the pagoda probably entered Japan and into the hands of Maeda Toshiie between 1592 and 1598.

The garden restoration was begun in 1774 by the 11th daimyō Harunaga, who created the Emerald Waterfall (Midori-taki) and Yugao-tei (夕顔亭), a teahouse.

Improvements continued in 1822 when the 12th daimyō Narinaga created the garden's winding streams with water drawn from the Tatsumi Waterway.

Sadanobu drew inspiration from the classical Chinese text "Chronicles of the Famous Luoyang Gardens" (洛陽名園記), which outlined the six attributes of a perfect landscape: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, waterways, and panoramas.