Kenrokuen and the 21st Century Museum (2026): Tickets, Free Early Entry, and the Swimming Pool Booking
You're spending a day in Kanazawa and want to see Kenrokuen garden and the 21st Century Museum, which sit across the road from each other. Neither needs booking ahead. Kenrokuen is ¥320, and free before the regular opening time every morning.
The museum is the one to plan. Getting into the underground room of Leandro Erlich's *Swimming Pool* takes an exhibition ticket plus a same-day waiting number. And the museum is scheduled to close for renovation from May 6, 2027 until March 2028, so if it's on your list, go before then.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. Both sites sell tickets at the door; the museum's web ticket is ¥200 cheaper for adults.
Kenrokuen: do you need a ticket, and when is it free?
You buy at the gate. Payment is by cash, major credit cards (including JCB, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners and UnionPay), transport IC cards such as Suica and ICOCA, or PayPay. There's also an official online ticket sold through asoview.
During the free early hours, last entry is 15 minutes before the free period ends (7:30 in winter), and you need to be out by the end of it, 15 minutes before the paid opening. The garden also has free days: about a week at cherry blossom time, three days of the Hyakumangoku festival in early June, Aug 14–16, Nov 3, and Dec 31–Jan 3.
21st Century Museum: what's free, and what needs a ticket?
The museum is a round glass building with a public zone and paid exhibition galleries. The exhibition running now, "From Today to Tomorrow: On the Stewardship of a Work", fills Galleries 1–6 until April 18, 2027.
Two free exhibitions also run until April 18, 2027. The web ticket is ¥200 cheaper for adults and skips the same-day ticket counter, which the museum's Swimming Pool page says gets crowded on weekends and holidays.
How do you get into the Swimming Pool?
The underground space of *The Swimming Pool* is inside the paid exhibition area, and visitor numbers are limited. Advance reservations aren't taken. On the day:
- Buy an exhibition ticket. Online ahead (¥1,000) or at the counter (¥1,200).
- Get a same-day waiting number. Use the reservation link on the museum's site, or the machine by the General Information desk at the Honda Street entrance. Numbers are issued 9:00–17:30 (19:30 on Fridays and Saturdays) until each slot is full.
- Go to Exhibition Room 6 when you're called. If you're late, the reservation is cancelled automatically. The stay underground is limited to 5 minutes.You check your estimated call time on your phone (the machine prints a code to scan), so you'll want data while you wait. A Japan eSIM is the easy fix.Compare Japan eSIMs on Klook ↗
A good plan: get your number as soon as you arrive, then walk over to Kenrokuen while you wait.
What the official pages said on Nov 7, 2026
Kenrokuen's usage guide (Ishikawa Prefecture) listed ¥320 / ¥100, the seasonal hours, the early-morning free entry times, payment methods, the official online ticket link and the free days.
The 21st Century Museum's exhibition page listed ¥1,200 (¥1,000 web) for the Oct 31, 2026 – Apr 18, 2027 exhibition, hours of 10:00–18:00 (20:00 Fri and Sat) and the Monday closures.
Its Swimming Pool page said an exhibition ticket and a same-day waiting number are both needed, and that prior reservations aren't being accepted.
Its homepage announced a closure for major repairs from May 6, 2027 to March 2028 (planned).
Visiting in 2027? Read this first
The 21st Century Museum plans to close from May 6, 2027 to March 2028 for major repairs. Details of the reopening will be announced later. Kenrokuen is not affected.
If you're travelling between May 2027 and spring 2028, Kanazawa still has Kenrokuen, Kanazawa Castle Park, the Higashi Chaya district and the prefectural museums. The museum says it will announce arrangements during the closure and the reopening date once they're decided, so check its site before you go.
Is a combined pass worth it?
For these two alone, the door prices add up to ¥1,320 (¥320 + ¥1,000 online). Add up the door prices of every place you'll visit over two days and compare that with the pass price on the product page. Ishikawa also sells a "Kenrokuen Plus One" ticket for the garden plus one prefectural facility (permanent exhibition), ¥500 for adults and valid for 2 days; the 21st Century Museum isn't one of them.
Kanazawa culture pass
Compare the price with what you'd pay at the door for the places you'll really visit.
Affiliate linksKenrokuen ticket on Klook
¥320 at the gate is hard to beat. This is only for having it in the app.
Affiliate linkGetting there
From Kanazawa Station, take a route bus to Kenrokuen-shita/Kanazawa-jo (about 12 minutes, then 5 minutes on foot) or to Hirosaka/21st Century Museum (about 10 minutes). The museum and the garden are a short walk apart. Kanazawa is on the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo: Tokyo to Kanazawa by Shinkansen →
More in Kanazawa and nearby
Shirakawa-go
The thatched-roof village, by direct bus from Kanazawa Station.
Hokuriku Arch Pass
Tokyo–Kanazawa–Kyoto/Osaka in one pass, for overseas visitors.
Before you go
Start early in Kenrokuen while it's free, buy the museum ticket online, and get your Swimming Pool number as soon as you arrive. If your trip falls after May 6, 2027, plan Kanazawa without the museum.
Doing lots of sights? Compare the culture pass ↑