Best Museums around Hakone / Odawara Spot List

This museum offers both beauty and healing surrounded by the nature of Hakone. A giant mural of wind god Fujin and thunder god Raijin can be appreciated while soaking your feet in an ashi-yu footbath.

Walk around the extensive grounds covering 70,000 square meters while enjoying the spectacular sculptures surrounded by magnificent greenery.

This is the world's first museum dedicated to the classic novella ”The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It displays documentation and memorabilia from the author Saint-Exupéry, and visitors can fully enjoy the world of ”The Little Prince.”

A unique art museum displaying future works and commanding a magnificent view of Lake Ashino-ko in Hakone.

This art museum has the longest history in the Hakone area. On the premises, there is a tea ceremony room from which you can enjoy the landscape of each season.

Hakone Garasunomori Museum, or the Venetian Glass Museum in Hakone, is the first museum of this kind in Japan. The glass exhibitions that change each season are worth seeing.

Lalique Museum, Hakone exhibits about 230 pieces of French artist, René Lalique (1860-1945) who created precious jewelry in Art Nouveau style, and beautiful objects in glass during Art Deco period.

Pola Museum of Art, built in the forests of Hakone, is a glass-encased space where you can enjoy art and nature together.

We display works created by people who have been designated as important intangible cultural properties, otherwise known as ”living national treasures.” We have a permanent special exhibition on the recent works of ceramic artist Morihiro Hosokawa. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Kajiya for about 5 minutes We are located right next to the Yamazaki bus stop

In 1998, an old Japanese inn was renovated and opened as the Yugawara Art Museum. We exhibit works by artists with a connection to Yugawara, such as Seiho Takeuchi, Sotaro Yasui, and Kokki Miyake. In the Reiji Hiramatsu Hall, Reiji Hiramatsu, one of Japan's leading artists, is currently creating an exhibition provisionally titled ”Ten Scenes of Yugawara.” In addition to viewing his works, the atelier where he creates his works is also open to the public. In the Japanese garden connected to the museum you can view seasonal flowers and ”Monet’s water lilies,” which were grown from water lily bulbs given to Reiji Hiramatsu by the Fondation Claude Monet. In the museum's cafe ”And Garden,” you can relax with food and tea while enjoying a fine view of the garden. Please enjoy appreciating great art in our peaceful, soothing museum. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 12 minutes We are right next to the Bijutsukan-Mae bus stop.

A museum exhibiting works of art under the theme of pumpkins, with a focus on the work of world-famous artist Yayoi Kusama. The museum also has a cafe. [Yayoi Kusama] A painter, avant-garde sculptor and novelist born in Nagano. She began painting pictures based on hallucinations she had in her early childhood. She went to the USA in 1957 and stayed in New York for 18 years, and has also represented Japan at Venice Biennial in 1993. After her retrospective exhibition tour around the US, she held a large-scale, one-woman exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, in 1999. In 2001, she won the Asahi Prize. Her work has appeared at the Yokohama Triennale. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 5 minutes We are five minutes' walk from the Shogakko-Mae bus stop

Located inside the Yugawara Tourist Hall, this museum exhibits the works and information panels of various writers and artists who have visited Yugawara since the Meiji era, such as Doppo Kunikida, Soseki Natsume , Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Akiko Yosano, Toson Shimazaki, and Junichiro Tanizaki. It also features a walking map for sights connected to Yugawara’s literary history, a brief history of modern literature in Yugawara, as well as panels of photos showing Yugawara in the past and present, and temples, shrines and stone statues. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 10 minutes We are right next to the Ochiaibashi bus stop

The artist Kyotaro Nishimura visited Yugawara to rest and recuperate, and he was so enchanted by its climate and people that he decided to live here. The Nishimura Kyotaro Museum was opened in honor of him. In addition to more than 300 of his creations, we also exhibit items that represent his life as a writer, including handwritten manuscripts, large dioramas and his secret collection. Please stop by and get a new insight into the life and work of Kyotaro Nishimura. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 5 minutes We are three minutes' walk from the Shogakko-Mae bus stop

We exhibit artworks produced through the use of fire, including antique chinaware and swords, that were collected by the Doctor of Engineering Kazuyoshi Kimura and his wife Doctor of Science Kinuko Kimura based on their conviction that ”the light and heat of the flame brings out the function and beauty of an object, while at the same time creating the beauty and culture that will last the longest in this world.” Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Kajiya for about 5 minutes We are a two-minute walk north from the Miyato-Bashi bus stop

We are a privately-owned modern art museum opened in November 1988. We have a range of exhibitions, mainly of oil paintings, but also sketches, photos, sculptures, objets d’art and other works. The museum encourages visitors to engage with art through the experience of not only looking at, but also touching and moving the items on exhibit, or making them produce sounds. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Kajiya for about 15 minutes We are seven minutes' walk from the Kajiya bus stop

On February 26, 1936, this site was part of an attempted coup d'état unparalleled of in modern Japanese history. Kofuso is the only location linked to the February 26 Incident outside of Tokyo. Kofuso was a former property of Itouya, a traditional old Japanese inn, and it is now used to exhibit items related to that period such as items belonging to residents, photos, and newspapers. Guided tours are given by volunteers (reservations are required for weekday tours). Open on Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays Business hours: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (last entrance at 2:30 p.m.) Reservations required for weekday visits (please book at least one week in advance) *We are open on every year on February 26. No reservations required. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 12 minutes We are one minute's walk from the Koen Iriguchi bus stop

A hall built in remembrance of Mamoru Shigemitsu, a former foreign minister who was the government representative who signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on the US battleship Missouri. It showcases his career as a diplomat and politician, using photos, videos and other materials. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 20 minutes We are a five-minute walk from the Okuyugawara bus stop