21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Lovely building with various exhibitions in an interesting very modern setting. Enjoyment will depend on whats on, but reasonable prices, great space and welcome made worthwhile for me. Handy lockers for bags and plenty of pace ti not feel crowded.

This museum is definitely a must-see if you like modern art. It is within 1/4 of a block of Kenroku-en Gardens, Kanazawa Castle Park, and the D.T. Suzuki Museum. (Basically, a street or two separates them). There are many more museums if you continue up a steep incline passing Kenroku-en Gardens. When I visited, the museum was open until 8 pm, and I stayed over 3 hours. The museum looks circular and is glass or plexiglass. Many of the inner rooms are glass or plexiglass. There's cool art installations on the grounds like musical instruments and strange installations that you enter. I was surprised everytime. This area is free and open to the public. On my visit, there were 2 exhibitions. One of the exhibitions included a lot of video presentations. They were so good I lost track of time. There is a lot of information in japanese and english for each piece. For the video presentations, you could get a package of free information that provided more detail. The cost was 1400 yen or about $10 for both exhibitions. You can pick and choose. I had to pay cash because I didn't have any of the types of credit cards they accepted. Everything was good and I really enjoyed it. There is no need to buy advanced tickets.

Honestly, any appreciator of art should stop here when visiting Kanazawa! So many cool and interactive installations. Had a great evening here!

Great gallery. It's was very busy the day we went and we missed some of the special exhibitions due to ques. So get there early

It was very existing place to enjoy contemporary art. There are several room to display some exhibition. The lift without hanging was extraordinary.

Came here for the architecture. Designed by SANAA. Fills up quickly. Arrived before opening and there was already a line.

If you want to see the underground pool, you will need advance registration or get there before opening to put your name on a waiting list. We didn’t pre-book but arrived about 30 minutes before opening and put our names in the wait list. We waited around 40 mins before we got in. There’s really not much to see and going to the underground pool is really for the “I’ve been there” / photo moment.

This is a beautiful museum, showcasing amazing modern Japanese and international art.

The circular design of the building encourages exploration of the space itself, as well as the permanent collections and exhibitions.

The famous “pool” attracts a lot of tourists but the reminder of the space is much calmer.

Beautiful small but really well presented art selection,
Great for late arrival in Kanazawa before finer

This is an incredible museum, I really liked the main exhibition.

We went when it was “closed” but it is walkable even when some of the exhibits are closed! Still so much fun and a must see ….perfect rainy day “free” activity. (Free in asterisks because it’s impossible to not purchase from the super cool gift shop!)

The main attraction of this place is an empty pool covered by a glass with water over it and it seems to be onther water. Beside this attraction there is a lot of art pieces very inspiring to see and a tunnel of plants really cool. The ticket cost ¥1400.

This museum has an excellent layout with some truly unique exhibits. I found the entrance fee to be a great value. Come here before noon and give yourself some time to explore everything carefully. The nice is they also close late!

Beautiful museum designed by architecture firm SANAA. Tickets to see its signature art installation Swimming Pool by Leandro Erlich sells out fast, so it is recommended to visit early if you want to see the art piece from beneath the pool, but you can still see it from above with other tickets.

Interesting place! I went on a weekday so there weren't that many people.

The coolest thing I found today is that there is a temporary project called “McDonald’s Radio University” held in an area inside of the museum.

This project mimics the service of the typical McDonald’s restaurants as there is counter and clerks serving you, yet this time what you’re paying for ain’t burgers but “lectures from immigrants and refugees”. The topics range from philosophy, literature to science and the lecturers come from different nations around the world.

It takes ¥100 for a single 15-20 minutes lesson and a can of drink included.

Cool museum - a little pricey for the exhibitions. But hit and miss as to whether 1 exhibition was worth the admission fee (¥2000 for 2 exhibitions). The outside is free. There's a kids area and lots of space to sit down and chill out (airconditioning on a hot day!!). Cafe food was very average for the prices. The permanent stuff includes a pool (not for swimming!) and some outdoor sculptures. You can view the outdoor sculptures for free. Short walk from Kenrokuen.

Very nice place! Line will be very long during holidays. It was almost 1.5 to 2 hrs of wait during Golden Week. I bought the “blue” ticket, which was 450 but it was pleasant.

beautiful, also the free exhibitions like the turrell room! worth a visit 5 stars

Buy tickets thru their website for easy entry. The pool exhibition requires a reservation. Highly recommended to do it in advance

Absolutely amazing place if you like contemporary art. There's so many pieces both in and outside the building (which is free entry). It's also very close to a nearby bus stop so it's easy to get too from Kanazawa station. There's also a cafe inside, it's not cheap nor expensive but the food is great and the contemporary art style follows inside the cafe too.