The beginning of this shrine goes back to 1794 (Kansei 6), when Harunaga, the 11th Lord of Maeda, enshrined Sugawara Michizane by a pond called Kinjo Reitaku. When established, it was a shrine of Meirindo, a domain school, then it became a shrine for Takezawa Goten Palace. Then it was renamed from Takezawa Tenjin Shrine to Kanazawa Jinja Shrine when Kenrokuen Garden was opened to the public in 1874 (Meiji 7).