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Kanazawa Bunko is a library that was opened by Hojo Sanetoki of the Hōjō clan (Kanazawa Hojoshi) in samurai family's residence around the middle of Kamakura period. 
The details about the time the library was opened are not clear but it is considered to be in Sanetoki's later years, in 1275 in particular. The library consisted of books on politics, literature and history, and the collection of the books was continued by his son Akitoki, grandchild Sadaaki and great-grandson Sadayuki.
The Kanazawa Hojoshi clan ceased along with the Kamakura shogunate in 1333 but the library was managed by the neighboring Shomyo Temple for which it has preserved until modern times. The Kanazawa Bunko was opened in 1930 as an institution of Kanagawa Prefecture and renovated in 1990, resumed activity as a museum of the medieval period.

Tsurezuregusa, Sideways— Enjoying Books in Early Modern Japan