This article is based on a visit made on Saturday, 12 May 2018.
Edit 10 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.
On our fourth day in Japan, I took my grandmother on a stopover in Hakone, on the way to our next hotel stay in Kyoto. Hakone, as I have described in my last article, is famous for its hot springs, but also its museums and natural landscapes. As a matter of fact, the two of us had spent the night in Hakone on our first tour in the country, but there are plenty of spots we missed out on back then, so on our return visit, I set out to fill in some of those gaps, starting with the Hakone Museum of Art (箱根美術館,
Hakone Bijutsukan).
We came in by taking the Tokaido Shinkansen, followed by a local train to the town's hub station, Hakone-Yumoto. While this is the fastest way to get there from Tokyo, and a good chunk of it is covered by the Japan Rail Pass, the most direct option is to take the Romancecar limited express, by Odakyu Railway. One of these trains (a 50000-series "GSE" model, pictured above) was stopped at Hakone-Yumoto when we arrived.
From there, we transferred onto yet another train, the Hakone-Tozan Railway. This mountain railway climbs an elevation of more than 500m (1,700 ft.) from Odawara to Gora, its last stop. To do so, there are several switchbacks where the train stops and heads up the next section facing backwards.
After the gorgeous weather we were blessed with at the Fuji Five Lakes, conditions continued to be beautiful in Hakone. The surroundings we passed as our train climbed up the mountains were ever so green. My original plan was to get off at the Hakone Open-Air Museum, but I had read about another museum I thought would be pleasant, so we stayed aboard until the end of the line...
...then took the Hakone-Tozan Cablecar for a few stops. In Japan, the term "cablecar" (ケーブルカー,
kēburu kā) refers to a
funicular, a railway where cars are pulled up and down steep inclines by cables. On this particular cablecar, there are two cars going in opposite directions, with a section in the middle where the tracks briefly diverge, to let the cars pass each other.
The museum was just outside of the Koen-Kami stop, along with Gora Park. Its collection consists of objects d'art primarily from Japan, dating from the
Kofun (AD 250-538) to
Edo (AD 1603 - 1868) periods. Some of the items which stood out to me were the massive -- almost human-sized -- jars, and the ancient, distinctive
haniwa (埴輪, lit. 'clay wheel') clay figures. International pieces include samples from China, Persia, and Greece. It is a fine collection, if low-key compared to some of the other museums in Hakone.
But if you ask me, the landscape garden surrounding the museum itself is worth the price of admission alone. After a fork in the path just beyond the entrance, you can find yourself in a moss garden.
From the moss on the ground to the canopy of leaves up top, there is a nigh-overwhelming amount of green to be had. However, it was somehow broken up by this one blazingly-red tree. Out of season, perhaps, but none the less beautiful for it.
Apart from the moss garden, another section of the museum grounds is a traditionally-Japanese-style landscape garden, called Sekiraku-en (石楽園, lit. 'stone pleasure garden'). It is open only on weekends, holidays, and every day in November, when the maple leaves turn. I was unaware of this restriction, so I sure lucked out coming on a Saturday when I did. And it wasn't even all that crowded, either! The volcanic valley Owakudani can be seen between the mountains in the back. The sloping, rolling landscape really complements the looming presence of Owakudani; it's easy to imagine both pieces belonging to a single mountain.
There's also a bamboo grove because... this is Japan. I'd be surprised if there wasn't one.
Back at the top of the moss garden is a teahouse, where for ¥700, you can order a cup of green tea and drink it whilst gazing upon the green wonderland below.
The tea was very fine, specifically the powder-based
matcha variety, if I'm not mistaken. It was served with a sweet made from
azuki bean paste (小豆餡,
azuki-an). For my first time (knowingly) trying azuki, I thoroughly enjoyed its mellow sweetness.
It reminds me of the time I visited
Hokoku-ji in Kamakura. Not as much bamboo this time around, but far more serene, with nobody else in the room, beyond the server, that I can remember. After getting our fill of the museum and its scenery, we headed off to another, quite different, museum, which I'll share with you next time on Sekai Ichi!
Hours: Open from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM; closes at 4:30 PM from April to October. Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time. Closed on Thursdays (except in November), 25-31 December, and 4-8 January. The teahouse is open from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
Costs: ¥900, or ¥700 with an active Hakone Free Pass. A cup of tea costs ¥700.
Address: 1300 Gora, Hakone-machi, Ashigara Shimo-gun, Kanagawa-ken 〒250-0408
Access: From Hakone-Yumoto, take the Hakone-Tozan Railway to the end of the line, Gora (OH-57, 40 minutes, 4 per hour, ¥410), then take the Hakone-Tozan Cable Car to Koen-kami (OH-59, 3 minutes, 3-4 per hour, ¥170).
The museum is also accessible by bus. From Hakone-Yumoto (platform 2), take the Hakone-Machi (H) line to Ninotaira-iriguchi ("二の平入口", 17 minutes, every 15-20 minutes, ¥590), then the Kanko-shisetsu Meguri (S) line to Hakone Bijutsukan ("箱根美術館", 10 minutes, every 20-30 minutes, ¥230). The Hakone Free Pass fully covers both the bus and train routes.
Website:
(Japanese)
