21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Opening hours: Exhibition Zone 10:00 -18:00

(Open until 20:00 on Friday and Saturday),

Public Zone 9:00 - 22:00 

Closed: Monday and New Year holiday (When Monday is a national holiday, closed on the following weekday. Public Zone is open on Monday.)

Address: 1-2-1 Hirosaka, Kanazawa, Ishikawa

Post code: 920-8509

Admission: 

Closest bus stop: Hirosaka 21st Century Museum

Website: www.kanazawa21.jp/en/

Since its opening in 2004, the total number of visitors broke through the 14 million mark, almost overtaking popular museums in the Tokyo area.

Five reasons to visit the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

1. The total number of visitors has topped 14 million.

2. Great architecture designed by world-famous architects

The building was designed by world-famous architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from SANAA (Saejima and Nishizawa and Associates). The museum features elegant white exhibition rooms based on its round shape. SANAA has won a number of awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2004 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2010.

3. Get in the swimming pool with your clothes on!

The museum’s most popular artwork is “Swimming Pool” by Leandro Erlich. When you look down on the swimming pool from the ground, it looks as if the pool is filled with water. You can go ‘into’ the swimming pool and walk on the bottom without getting wet.

4. Different views from day to night

The view from “Color Activity House” designed by Olafur Eliasson looks different depending on where you are standing and the strength of the sun. You will get a different view every time you go there, from a sunny day to a rainy day or from day to night.  

5. Have fun for free till late at night

There are two different zones in the museum: exhibition zones and communication zones. Communication zones have free admission and are open till 10 p.m. You can view “Swimming Pool” (Leandro Erlich) and “Colour Activity House” (Olafur Eliasson) for free! (Admission is payable to go into “Swimming Pool”.)

Posted on 01/07/2015

There is no admission fee for entrance to the museum. Admission is payable to enter exhibition zones.

How to get to the 21st Century Museum from Kanazawa Station

Take a bus from stop 3 or 6 at Kanazawa Station East Gate Bus Terminal and get off at Hirosaka/21st Century Museum. It takes approx. 10 mins and a single fare is 200 yen. The Kanazawa Loop Bus also takes you to the museum on both the Right Loop (RL) and Left Loop (LL) routes. Take a bus from stop 7. The one-day bus pass is valid on these routes.

Photo: Kanazawa City

Photo: Kanazawa City

Photo: Kanazawa City