Be part of the art
If you visit Kanazawa make sure you reserve a couple of hours to wander between the exhibitions and installations of the contemporary art museum. The building was designed by Kazuyo and Associates + SANAA and opened in 2004. There is a big focus on making the museum a center for the community. Consequently there are plenty of open public spaces where you can rest, people watch, take selfies or interact with the art itself.
The museum houses work by international and Japanese artists. James Turell's Blue Sky Planet with its rectangular oculus is well worth exploring. However the big crowd-pleaser is Leandro Erlich's perception challenging swimming pool. Visitors to enter a replica swimming pool where only the water is missing.