Kanazawa is the perfect place if you are an avid traveler who wants to include everything in your trip, such as visiting new spots and historical sites, as well as enjoying not only popular experiences, but also experiences unique to the destination. In this article, we are introducing some places, mainly contemporary art spots, that we discovered while walking around Kanazawa, a town that has so much to offer.

In Korinbo, an area in downtown Kanazawa, there is a contemporary art museum called KAMU kanazawa (or “KAMU”.) Unlike other museums, it is unique in that its exhibition rooms are scattered around the town, instead of being in one building. You can visit the exhibition rooms in any order, so you can discover the charms of the town through contemporary art while stopping by at shops that catch your attention or taking a break at a café when you get tired.

First, let’s go to KAMU Center, which functions as the starting point and one of the exhibition spaces of KAMU. Once you get the museum map and receive an explanation, let’s embark on your art journey.

KAMU Center

They will give you a B4 size leaflet containing the map of the surrounding area and the information about each artwork.

KAMU Center displays artworks across three floors. On the first floor, there is an installation titled Infinite Staircase by Leandro Erlich, who is also famous for his The Swimming Pool exhibited at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa. The stairs that seemingly continue infinitely make you feel as if you have wandered into another dimension.

KAMU Center 1F Leandro Erlich≪INFINITE STAIRCASE≫

On the second floor, animal sculpture Crow by sculptor Stephanie Quayle occupies almost the entire space. Characterized by a wild sketch-like appearance, her works exude a sense of dynamism and graphic reality. Her style, which is sometimes cute and sometimes intimidating, makes us think about the sense of distance between mankind and nature.

Clay sculptures by Stephanie Quayle

The third floor features eccentric contemporary pottery works by Takuro Kuwata. Vivid colors and metallic gleam—we had never seen pottery like them before. These works look different from different angles, so take time to walk around them to truly appreciate them.

Works by Takuro Kuwata that have been made using pottery techniques

Next, we went to “KAMU sky,” which is on the rooftop of Korinbo Tokyu Square. When we reached the 6th floor by elevator, there was a black door. We opened it nervously. Past the door was a world created by Ishu Han. The sound of chirping of birds is echoing in the dimly-lit space, and the spiral staircase is leading downward. When we looked down, there was something lit up at the bottom. What could it be? When we got to the bottom, we found a cardboard box sitting by itself. As we kept staring at the box, we started getting a strange feeling as if the chirping of birds that was coming from above was also coming from inside the box. Han’s works are mysteriously captivating, making the viewers ponder about their meanings.

KAMU sky Ishu Han≪The Day Spinach Dreamed in Japanese≫

After appreciating Han’s work, let’s head to the first floor of Korinbo Tokyu Square, where there is “076-” (pronounced “zero nana roku” in Japanese) which has an open space featuring a museum shop and café of KAMU. We highly recommend visiting there because you can not only enjoy espresso in a cup made by aforementioned Takuro Kuwata, but also purchase artbooks, etc. from a vending machine.

Taking a little break on a bench

It was already noon before we knew it. Some KAMU exhibition rooms are closed from noon to 1 p.m., so it’s the best time for lunch. We took a bus to TILE, a seafood restaurant near Kanazawa Station. There you can enjoy a unique seafood bowl dining experience that lets you top a bowl of rice with ingredients of your choice, in a building renovated from a 110-year-old historic “machiya” (a traditional Japanese wooden townhouse). The food of course tastes amazing. If you are interested, please check out our past entry. Enjoy a memorable seafood bowl at “TILE” in a historic “machiya” (a traditional Japanese wooden townhouse) in Kanazawa.

After enjoying an amazing seafood bowl, we were going to head back to the exhibition room, but we took a wrong bus. . . Sometimes things don’t go as planned during a trip. We stayed on the bus, thinking we would eventually get there because it was a round-trip bus. As the bus kept going, we saw a Higashi Chaya District sign outside the window, so we decided to get off to enjoy the spontaneity.

Higashi Chaya District is a district with many tea houses developed in the 1800s and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Kanazawa. The traditional buildings and atmosphere have been preserved even to this day, while attracting tourists with traditional crafts shops, sweets shops, and so on. As we were walking in the streets, Sakuda, a shop which offers crafts made with gold leaf, caught our attention. The staff told us that they have gold leaf application workshops at another location nearby, so we decided to try that out. If you are interested, please check out our past entry that talks about it in detail. Trying out a gold leaf application experience in Kanazawa!

The shops in the district are so tempting. Some shops even turn into bars at night.

The majestic gold leaf sculpture at the entrance of Sakuda

It is getting quite long, so that’s it for the first part. Please look forward to the second part, as we continue to explore the charms of Kanazawa, appreciating video art, visiting a temple that offers a unique worshipping process, and going to a bar at night. Don’t miss it! Art spots dotting Kanazawa: Visiting “KAMU kanazawa” (Part. 2)

■DATA ▼KAMU kanazawa Address:1-1-52, Hirosaka, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture Opening hours:11:00-18:00 Closed on Monday online ticket : https://artsticker.app/events/1261 Instagram： https://www.instagram.com/kamu_kanazawa/ ▼TILE Address: 4-18 Konohana-cho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture Opening hours: Lunch 11:00-15:00 (L.O. 14:00) Dinner 17:00-22:00 (L.O. 21:00) Official website：https://tile-japan.jp/ Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/tile_japan/?hl=ja ■Gold Leaf Sakuda Main Store Address: 1-3-27 Higashiyama, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture 920-0831 Operating hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Vary by season) Official website:https://goldleaf-sakuda.jp/ (Information as of July 2024)

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