Located just 1 minute on foot from the National Crafts Museum, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of History is the perfect place to gain an understanding of the samurai culture and politics of the Kaga Domain. As a peaceful city ruled by powerful Maeda lords, the Kaga Domain (now called Kanazawa) developed a unique samurai culture. The samurai (usually called bushi or buke in Japanese) had a huge impact on the development of this culture. Beautiful crafts such as kimono Kaga-yuzen (fabric dyeing); gold leaf; Kutani-yaki porcelain and Maki-e lacquerware production, as well as artforms like Noh theatre and the tea ceremony were an important part of the samurai way of life. The museum is housed in three, beautiful former armoury warehouses built at the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912) to the early Taisho era (1912-1926).