Osaki Shrine Honden

This guide to Osaki Shrine Honden in Kanazawa opens on a strange act of loyalty: in 1643 Maeda Mitsutaka, fourth lord of the wealthiest domain outside the shogun's own lands, built a shrine to the Tokugawa family inside his own castle walls. You'll hear why a lord that rich made Edo nervous, and how master carpenter Kihara Mokkou raised a miniature echo of Nikko's great Toshogu to enshrine Ieyasu himself alongside Maeda Toshitsune and Amaterasu. The guide traces what that red-lacquered gesture was meant to say to any inspector passing through town.