National Crafts Museum

Located near Kanazawa’s Kenrokuen Garden, the National Crafts Museum houses over 4,000 works in various fields, including ceramics, glass, lacquerware, woodwork, bamboo work, textiles, dolls, metalwork, industrial design, and graphic design.

Planning your visit

The National Crafts Museum relocated from Tokyo to Kanazawa in 2020, which was a deliberate act of cultural decentralisation and a sensible one: Kanazawa has been a centre of craft production for four centuries, since the Maeda lords of the Kaga domain invested heavily in artisans, and the city retains living traditions in gold leaf, lacquer, dyeing and ceramics.

The collection runs to over 4,000 works across ceramics, glass, lacquer, wood, bamboo, textiles, dolls, metalwork, industrial and graphic design, covering the modern period from the late nineteenth century to the present. Japanese craft occupies a different conceptual position from Western decorative arts — the distinction between art and craft is drawn differently, and Living National Treasures are designated in individual techniques — and the museum makes that visible.

The building is a reassembled pair of historic military structures, painted white, near Kenrokuen garden.

It sits within Kanazawa's museum cluster alongside the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. Allow ninety minutes. Bookable options combine it with the Nakamura Memorial Museum. Current availability is listed below.