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21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Appreciate contemporary art to the fullest on rainy days

The circular museum, with no front entrance, is like a plaza that is easy to enter from any direction. It consists of a free exchange zone and a paid exhibition zone, including a lawn area surrounding the building. L'Origine du monde," in which a huge black oval can be seen on the concrete wall, is a work of art in the exhibition space itself. The more you look closely, the more the black circle appears to float, dimple, or at times seem to approach you, making you think deeply about your relationship with things and your existence.

You will encounter a completely different scene than on a sunny day.

The "green bridge" that spans the glass corridor is a perfect balance of about 100 different kinds of plants suited to Kanazawa's climate, which gives the space a serene appearance on rainy days.
In James Turrell's "Blue Planet Sky," raindrops fall from the cut-out ceiling, creating a unique artwork of splashes and ripples that wet the tiles. Outside, Olafur Eliasson's "Color Activity House" is a swirling pavilion of cyan, magenta, and yellow glass walls. The beauty of the rain-soaked tri-colored glass is also exceptional.

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

• 1-2-1, Hirosaka, Kanazawa, Ishikawa MAP
• From JR Kanazawa Station, take the Hokutetsu Bus (Kanazawa Castle Town Circulation Bus), 20 min. on the right/left route, a short walk from the Hirosaka/21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art bus stop.
• Exhibition Zone: 10:00-18:00, Friday and Saturday: 20:00
  Exchange Zone: 9:00-22:00
• Mondays (closed the following weekday if Monday is a national holiday); closed for renovation from December 20, 2019 to February 3, 2020
• Exhibition Zone fee required (varies depending on the exhibition), Exchange Zone free of charge
• 076-220-2800
• Charged (30 min. free of charge)

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Ishikawa Prefectural Art Museum

Take your time to appreciate the powerful colors of KOKUTANI.

This museum exhibits many masterpieces from Ishikawa Prefecture, where arts and crafts have flourished since ancient times. The museum has a particularly rich collection of arts and crafts from the Kaga domain period, including Ko-Kutani wares made between 1650 and 1700, and revived Kutani wares from the 1800s, many of which depict landscapes, flowers, and birds in rich colors. Many of these works are rich in color and depict landscapes, flowers, and birds. Don't miss the "Iroe Kiji Incense Burner" by Nonomura Ninsei, a potter of the early Edo period and designated as a National Treasure, as well as other cultural properties inherited from the Maeda family of the Kaga domain.

Take a break and enjoy the view of the garden at the café attached to the park

Inside the museum is the café "Le Musee de Ashe" produced by a famous pastry chef from Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture. The large, open-ceilinged windows offer a wonderful view of the garden on rainy days. There are about 25 kinds of cakes that change with the seasons, including "Wacha," a mousse of Dainagon azuki beans and white sesame seeds, and mango jelly wrapped in green tea mousse. Enjoy them with "Liberte," a tea blended with Kaga stick tea and the refreshing aroma of lemon. In addition, the "Concept G" course (reservations required) is available in a modern private room, featuring a plate of gyokuro and a dessert. This is a great place to stop by after a day of art appreciation.

Ishikawa Prefectural Art Museum

• 2-1 Dewa-cho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture MAP
• 16 min. on the Hokutetsu Bus from the East Exit of JR Kanazawa Station to the Kenrokuen shuttle stop. 2 min. walk from the Prefectural Museum of Art Narutatsumikaku-mae stop.
• 9:30-18:00 (last admission at 17:30), Le Musée de l'Ashe 10:00-19:00 (L.O.18:00)
• Open daily (closed during exhibition change periods and year-end and New Year holidays) *Le Musee de Ashe is open
• 360 yen, 290 yen for university students, free for high school students and younger
• 076-231-7580
• Free of charge

3
atelier & gallery creava

Experience making modern Kutani pottery vessels and accessories

Property is an art complex located in Naga-machi with a samurai residence street. There are three spaces: a gallery, a store & café, and a pottery workshop. At the pottery class, visitors can experience painting Kutani Gosai and Akae Kinsai without a reservation on weekdays. On weekends, visitors can try their hand at making pottery using a potter's wheel (reservation required). If you want to enjoy art in a more casual way, we recommend making Kutani Yaki accessories. The process takes about 30 minutes, during which time you can browse the galleries and stores.

The gallery in a reused warehouse is also a highlight.

The unique structure of the building is a 100-year-old warehouse completely inside a reinforced concrete building. Inside the warehouse is an art gallery, where exhibitions of crafts and artwork that harmonize with the space and fit in well with daily life are held. The themes of the exhibitions change monthly, such as "Owan (rice bowl)" and "Lacquer and Aroma Oil," and works by craft artists with ties to Ishikawa Prefecture are displayed and sold. In the store, visitors can purchase works by young artists, such as dishes, cutlery, pouches, and accessories.

atelier & gallery creava

• 2-6-51 Kanazawa Choumachi, Ishikawa MAP
• From the East Exit of JR Kanazawa Station, take the Hokutetsu Bus "Left Route" (Kanazawa Castle Town Circular Bus). 9 min. ride, 7 min. walk from Korinbo Bus Stop.
• Open 10:00-17:00
• Wednesdays (Ceramic art classes are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays)
• 076-231-4756
• Free of charge (3 cars)

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Seisonkaku

The splendid shoin-style building

Nariyasu, the 13th lord of the Maeda family, built the Okuho Palace for his mother in Kenrokuen Garden in the late Edo period (1603-1868). The "Pine Room," with its colorful glass paintings of birds on the lower back panel, and the "Audience Room," are all gracefully designed to show the care and thoughtfulness of a mother from Kyoto. The view of the garden from the 20-meter-long porch, which has no pillars, is also magnificent, and on rainy days, it is beautiful and serene.

Rooms with elaborate ceilings, walls, and colors

While the downstairs is of high status, the upstairs consists of seven rooms in a white-wooden sukiya-style shoin-style building. Each room has a different design, with the most eye-catching being the "Gunsei-no-Ma" and "Gunsei-Shomi-no-Ma" rooms. The folded ceiling is decorated in ultramarine blue, and it is surprising that this vivid color was used in the Edo period. The colors of the alcove and walls are also gorgeous. In the center of the shoji (paper sliding door) is a Dutch-inspired diamond, which allows visitors to look outside without having to open the door.

Naritatsumikaku

• 1-2 Kenrokucho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture (in Kenrokuen Garden) MAP
• 16 min. on the Hokutetsu Bus from the East Exit of JR Kanazawa Station to the Kenrokuen Shuttle stop. 1 min. walk from the Kenritsu Museum of Art Narutatsumikaku stop.
• 9:00-17:00 (last admission at 16:30)
• Wednesdays (closed the following day if Wednesday is a national holiday), Year-end and New Year holidays (12/29 - 1/2)
• Special exhibitions: 700 yen, junior and senior high school students: 300 yen, elementary school students: 250 yen. Special exhibition: 1,000 yen, junior high and high school students: 400 yen, elementary school students: 300 yen.
• 076-221-0580
• Free of charge

5
Omimachi Market

Kanazawa's kitchen with about 180 stores

The Omemachi Market is a traditional market that has been Kanazawa's kitchen for about 300 years. The arcade makes shopping comfortable even on rainy days. The market is always bustling with both Guest/customers and tourists, with about 180 stores, including fresh fish stores, fruit and vegetable stores, butcher stores, grocery stores, and confectionary stores. The fresh fish stores are especially popular with Hokuriku seafood such as gas prawns, which are said to be sweeter than sweet shrimp, and kobako crabs, which are only available from the beginning of November to the end of December. It is fun to talk with the store staff and ask them how to enjoy these delicacies.

Enjoy gourmet food at the market

Another enjoyable aspect of the market is that you can taste the products lined up in front of you on the spot. Fresh sea urchins, oysters, freshly grilled squid and shrimps, etc. are available at fresh fish stores, while cut fruits and fresh juices can be easily enjoyed at fruit stores. The seafood croquettes, okara manju (bean curd buns) made by a tofu store, soy milk lattes, and many other delicacies unique to this area are also available. Another attraction is the many popular and well-known restaurants where you can enjoy sushi, seafood rice bowls, and Kanazawa oden at eat-in restaurants. Lines are inevitable at lunchtime, so it is recommended to visit early in the day.

▶For more information about Omemachi Market, click here.

Omemachi Market

• 50 Kami-omi-cho, Kanazawa City, JR Ishikawa MAP
• Approx. 15 min. walk from JR Kanazawa Station
• 5 min. ride on the Kanazawa Castle Town Tour Bus from Kanazawa Stn. on the "Left Turn Route", get off at "Musashigatsuji/Omi-machi Ichiba" and walk shortly.
• 9:00-17:00 (varies by store)
• January 1-4 (varies by store)
• 076-231-1462
• Charged

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Shima, an important cultural property designated by the national government

Experience the chic and glamorous teahouse culture

Shima" is a prestigious building constructed in 1820, the year the Higashi Chaya-machi district was born. It is open to the public as a building that retains the structure of a typical teahouse. The second floor of the teahouse is a guest room (ozashiki), and unlike a machiya (townhouse), there are no partition walls or closets, making it an open-plan structure. It is a chic and elegant space for the enjoyment of entertainment. The glossy reddish-brown walls bring to mind the joyful scene of playing in a tatami room. The delicate and beautiful designs, such as the cloisonne ware on the pulls of the fusuma sliding doors, are also noteworthy. On the first floor, the sunken hearth, well, and stone chamber still remain, conveying the backstage atmosphere.

Taste matcha green tea with a view of the garden

At the Kanmura-an, located at the rear of the first floor, visitors can sit at a counter where they can put their feet down and enjoy matcha green tea and seasonal fresh sweets. In the warmer months, the windows are fully opened, creating a quiet space where you can take a break while enjoying the view of the garden. On rainy days, the trees are moist and wet, and the sound of the rain is pleasant to the ears. The snowy season is also very special. It is a spot you will want to visit in various seasons.

National Important Cultural Property Shima

• 1-13-21 Higashiyama, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa MAP
• From JR Kanazawa Station East Exit, take the Hokutetsu Bus (Kanazawa Castle Town Circular Bus "clockwise route"). 10 min. ride, 5 min. walk from Hashiba-machi Bus Stop.
• 9:00-18:00, Dec-Feb-17:00
• No holidays
• 500 yen, 300 yen for elementary/junior high school students
• 076-252-5675
• None

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Higashiyama-so

A shared space with a store and atelier

Strolling along "Higashi Chaya-gai," lined with elegant reddish-brown machiya houses, is a chic and quiet experience on a rainy day. Located in a corner of this area, "Higashi Yamaso" is a shared space that was renovated from a fixture shop built in 1938. It houses "akashu," a craft store where the American owner sells his own works and those of Kanazawa artists, "Ayurari Higashiyama," a popular general store from Nanao in Noto, "Hakowotumu," a showroom of a box design company, as well as art classes and a painting studio. Each of these spots offers its own tasteful space to enjoy.

Be enamored with old vessels that fit in with your daily life.

At "Ayumu Rari Higashiyama," located at the back of the first floor, you will find a wide variety of Kutani ware and other tableware from the Edo, Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa periods. The owner hopes that visitors will not be put off by the fact that the items are antiques, but rather that they can be easily incorporated into their daily lives. The hand-painted dishes are beautiful in both color and design, and are sure to catch your eye. Other items on display include long-loved Wajima-nuri bowls, handmade Japanese paper, and other works by Noto artists.

Higashiyama Villa

• 1-4-33 Higashiyama, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa MAP
• From JR Kanazawa Station East Exit, take the Hokutetsu Bus (Kanazawa Castle Town Circular Bus "clockwise route"). 10 min. ride, 5 min. walk from Hashiba-machi Bus Stop.
• Saturdays, 2nd and 4th Sundays 10:30-18:00
• Monday-Friday, 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday
• 090-8703-4743 (Ayumari Higashiyama)
• None

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Yamato Koji Park

Enjoy fermented food culture through a variety of Experiences

Yamato Soy Sauce Miso has been in business for more than 100 years in Ono, a port town on the outskirts of Kanazawa City, and is a leading provider of fermented food culture. The Yamato Kouji Park, with its spacious grounds lined with quaint buildings, is just like a theme park. Here, various Experience programs are available, such as guided tours of the malt brewery, miso soup drinking contests, and shio koji making. Of these, we recommend the "Misoboruru Making Experience," in which you mix Yamato's raw miso paste, soup stock, and your favorite ingredients such as enoki mushrooms and okra. The experience takes about 20 minutes, and the miso balls, cutely wrapped, can be made into instant miso soup by pouring hot water over them. A souvenir of miso is included in the price of 1,000 yen.

Delicious Koji food lunch and "soy sauce soft serve ice cream"!

The "Hakkoshoku Bijin Shokudo (fermented food beauty restaurant)" is a tasteful space with a high ceiling. Here, you can enjoy the monthly changing malt dishes with brown rice that has been left to ferment, with the hope that you will feel free to use malt every day. In addition, at Hishiho Kura, you can buy soy sauce, miso, ponzu (Japanese citrus juice), amazake (sweet sake), and other products recommended by the brewery as souvenirs. You can sample most of the products, so you are sure to find your favorite flavor. At the take-out corner, you can taste "soy sauce soft serve ice cream" and "brown rice amazake soft serve ice cream.

Yamato Koji Park

• 4-170, Ono-cho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture MAP
• 15 minutes drive from JR Kanazawa Station
• 10:00-17:00, Fermented food beauty diner 11:30-14:30 (L.O.13:30)
• Wednesdays (Wednesdays, 1st and 3rd Tuesdays for the Fermented Food Restaurant, Wednesdays and 2nd Fridays for the Misoboru Experience), year-end and New Year holidays
• 076-268-5289
• Free of charge