Archive for the ‘Hakone’ Category
Sunday, May 28: After taking the T bus from the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, I’m dropped at Togendai, the northwestern tip of Lake Ashinoko. I’m just in time to catch the pirate ship run by Hakone Sightseeing Cruise. I run along with a few stragglers to board the ship.
Hakone Sightseeing Cruise at Togendai
Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
The door closes behind me as I embark, and the boat is underway. It takes about 30 minutes for the boat to cruise to the southeast end of the lake at Hakone Machi. I have on walking sandals, capris and a short sleeve shirt, but no jacket to keep me warm against the cold wind. I’m not dissuaded though; I have to take pictures, so I must stand outside on the deck. The warm seats inside are for sissies! 🙂
Lake Ashi
It’s a rather dark and cloudy day today, and cooler than yesterday. It seems I made a poor decision yesterday to make the circuit around Hakone in a counterclockwise direction. Yesterday was a perfect day, warm and sunny with blue skies. If I had traveled in the clockwise direction, I would have been on Lake Ashi yesterday, and I might have seen views of Mt. Fuji. Oh well, it’s simply not meant to be. I have missed views of Mt. Fuji because of cloudy skies when I’ve been at Mt. Takao, Odawara, and now Hakone. I will soon travel to the Five Lakes area of Fuji, but only when the weather forecast is perfect. I’m determined to see that iconic mountain before I leave Japan.
Hakone Sightseeing Cruise on Lake Ashi
A few rays of sunshine are making their way to the mountains around Lake Ashi, making them glow.
Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi, also referred to as Lake Ashinoko, is a crater lake that lies along the southwest wall of the caldera of Mount Hakone, a complex volcano that last erupted in 1170. The lake is known for its views of Mt. Fuji, its numerous hot springs, historical sites, and ryokan.
Lake Ashi
There are even a few hardy souls zipping across the lake in their boats.
Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi
We cross paths with another Hakone Sightseeing Cruise pirate ship on the lake. The other boat is going in the Togendai direction, while we continue to Hakone-machi.
Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi
As we get to the southeast end of the lake, I’m on the lookout for the Hakone Shrine’s torii gate in Lake Ashi. I see it, but it’s awfully far away.
the torii of Hakone Shrine on Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi
pulling into Hakonemachi-ko
Lake Ashi at Hankonemachi-ko
We come into to dock at Hakonemachi-ko, where, in order to get to Motohakone, I have to jump ship, right onto another pirate boat. I cross the dock immediately upon disembarking, and hop on the adjacent boat, which leaves immediately for Motohakone.
a change of ship
heading to Motohakone
heading to Motohakone
On this leg of the cruise, I get a slightly better view of the torii gate, but it’s still a little too far for my taste.
Hakone Shrine’s torii in the lake
Hakone Shrine’s torii in Ashi Lake
Hakone Shrine’s torii in Ashi Lake
pulling in to Motohakone
Motohakone
At Motohakone, I disembark again, and when I ask about getting to Hakone Shrine, I’m told I need to walk along the shore for about 15 minutes. I do so, and soon I’m at the first torii gate of the Shinto shrine.
first torii at Hakone Shrine
At the second torii gate, I walk uphill to the shrine.
Second torii at Hakone Shrine
small shrine at Hakone Shrine
I find the light is always challenging when taking pictures of these red shrines. It’s so frustrating trying to get a decent photo. Not only that, but every place is so crowded with tourists or worshippers that there is never a view without people.
Hakone Shrine
I’m now in the habit of taking pictures of the ema at every shrine I visit. I love them; each shrine has its own distinct ema. I wish I could buy one at every shrine, but they can be quite expensive, and I don’t want to be loaded down with a bunch of ema when I return home in August.
ema at Hakone Shrine
ema at Hakone Shrine
ema at Hakone Shrine
Hakone Shrine
Finally, I walk back down the hill, hoping against all hope that the torii in the water won’t be packed with people.
a small shrine
Sadly, a herd of people are all taking turns being photographed in front of the torii. I don’t know why everyone has to have a photo of themselves in front of every tourist attraction!
the crowds at the torii gate in Lake Ashi
I have to be creative and try to get some shots from the shoreline on either side of the torii gate. The people in the little swan paddle boats have the right idea. I think I will have to come back to Hakone just to rent a paddle boat for a close up view of the torii from the lake side.
the torii in the lake
Hakone Shrine’s torii in the lake
the torii in Lake Ashi
Hakone Shrine’s torii in Lake Ashi
After trying every angle I can, and deciding I will have to be satisfied with whatever photos I get, I head back on the path to the Motohakone bus station.
a well-worn bridge
a bride on the path
a roundabout path
mossy steps
a stone path
view of Lake Ashi at Motohakone
Motohakone
At the bus stop, where I must take a bus back to Hakone Yumoto, two buses are due to arrive, a local and an express. The queue is quite long and I worry that I won’t make it back in time to catch my 3:20 Romancecar train. When the local bus, which takes one hour to get to Hakone Yumoto, arrives, it is packed, meaning I will have to stand on a crowded bus for an hour. The express bus takes a half hour to get to Hakone Yumoto, but I have to wait another 20 minutes for that one. I decide to move to the line for the express bus and just wait. At least I’m at the front of that line, so I hope it means I’ll get a seat.
It turns out I’m one of the first people on the bus, so I get a good seat by the window. A young lady sits down beside me; her name is Whitney and she is an American working in Tokyo for PricewaterhouseCoopers, doing business as PwC in Japan. She and I talk about how we go out and explore every weekend, mainly just walking around taking pictures, which we both enjoy doing. She stayed on a whim overnight in Hakone; she wasn’t sure when she came down if she would do a day trip or an overnighter, but she decided because it was such a struggle to get around that she would stay the night. We both agree that Hakone is best as a weekend trip. She admits that she was able to stay at a very expensive hotel, while I sadly have to confess that my hotel was on the cheap end at $107, and nothing special at that.
It’s a very nice conversation, and it makes the half-hour bus ride speed by.
When I arrive in Hakone Yumoto, I have about an hour to kill. I originally intended to visit a fancy onsen but it would be too much of a rush to do that in an hour. Instead I go in search of a restaurant where I can eat some lunch.
Hakone Yumoto
Hakone Yumoto
I find a restaurant that serves shrimp tempura, one of my standbys in Japan, and I enjoy my meal at leisure.
restaurant in Hakone Yumoto
shrimp tempura
I go to the station, where I pick up my bag at Hakone Baggage Service and pay them another 800 yen for the delivery service. Then I wait patiently for the 3:20 Romancecar. It turns out I have plenty of time and I probably could have easily squeezed in either the onsen or the Narukawa Museum of Art, which was near the bus stop in Motohakone and is supposed to have great views of Mt. Fuji. Of course there would have been no views today, and that’s why I didn’t bother. Oh well, I’ve already decided that I must come back to visit that museum, rent a paddle boat near the torii, and visit the fancy onsen. As the Romancecar is so easy and fast, I can easily do those three things as a day trip.
Steps today: 14, 613 or 6.19 miles. 🙂
Sunday, May 28: After getting the run-around from several bus drivers about which bus can take me from Choanji Temple to the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, I finally decide to walk. I remember that the tourist information lady near the Hakone-Yumoto Station told me yesterday, when she gave me a map of this area, that I could walk from Choanji to the Botanical Garden in about 15 minutes. In the end, that’s exactly what I do. It’s easy enough and before long I’m paying the 700 yen admission fee.
The Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, 2,200 feet above sea level, was founded in 1976, and now contains some 1700 plant varieties, including about 200 types of woody and herbaceous wetland plants from Japan, as well as 1300 varieties (120 species) of alpine plants.
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
The garden, which was formerly a flat area containing rice paddies, is now a specially designed ecosystem consisting of man-made hills, rockeries, ponds, streams and several types of moors. It consists of eight divisions: 4 moors, a swamp forest, an upland forest, a meadow and an alpine garden.
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
The garden has four different kinds of wetlands: marsh, fen, bog and swamp. The marsh, fen and bog are grass-dominated, with different root systems. A swamp differs from a marsh only in that woody plants are dominant.
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
Swamp forest
swamp forest
swamp forest
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
swamp forest
swamp forest
swamp forest
swamp forest
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
Sengokuhara Marsh
Three different areas — an upland forest, a meadow and an alpine garden — surround the wetland vegetation. The upland forest consists of deciduous trees, such as oaks, maples, and dogwoods — all common to the Hakone mountain area.
plants of the cliff
plants of the cliff
plants of the cliff
plants of the cliff
Sengokuhara Marsh
The garden offers a network of boardwalk paths through the different types of marshland. I always love a boardwalk path!
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
Sengokuhara Marsh
swamp forest
swamp forest
Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands
white fluffy flowers
Now, at 10:30 a.m., I’ve done all the things I intended to do yesterday. However, my list for today is quite ambitious as well. In the parking lot of the botanic garden, I board Bus T to Lake Ashi, where I’m told I can take a cruise across the lake on a pirate ship. Ahoy, matey! 🙂
Sunday, May 28: My hotel, Hakone Onsen Sanso Nakamura, doesn’t have a restaurant or any breakfast offerings. Luckily I thought of that as Lee and I stopped at the Family Mart during our walk back from dinner last night. There I bought some milk tea, orange juice, and a doughnut for my breakfast. I have these this morning with some trepidation since I was unable to refrigerate the drinks overnight.
My room also has a shared bathroom and no shower; I must use the onsen downstairs to get ready for my day. I’m happy this morning to have the onsen to myself; I shower thoroughly, as one is supposed to do before getting into an onsen, and soak in the small public bath for a bit. The water in this onsen is really hot, so I can’t take too much of it.
Before long, I’m ready to go. I have a lot of places on my list to visit today before I catch the Romancecar back to Machida at 3:20. I intended to visit two places in my hotel’s neighborhood last night, but instead, I’ll try to squeeze them in this morning before continuing on the circuit around Hakone. It may be too ambitious, but I’ll just have to cut things out if I feel too rushed. I don’t want to lug my backpack with me all day, so I ask if I can have it sent back to the train station; the hotel owner, a woman with a smidgen of English, tells me my bag will be at the station after 1:00. That works perfectly with my schedule. 🙂
My first stop is Choanji Temple. I have it almost entirely to myself! This is highly unusual in Japan, where everything that remotely resembles a tourist attraction is packed on weekends.
the entry to Choanji Temple
Choanji is a temple of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism; it was established in 1356 in a quiet area at the base of a hill. The Sōtō school emphasizes Shikantaza, (which means “nothing but precisely sitting”) –meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference (Wikipedia: Sōtō).
This atmospheric temple has a circuit of pleasant walking trails which wind through its wooded grounds and cemetery.
The “temizuya” water pavilion
The “temizuya” water pavilion
What makes Choanji particularly charming and quirky are its over two hundred statues of rakan (disciples of Buddha) scattered around the temple grounds. According to japan-guide.com, “the statues began appearing in the 1980s and have been accruing ever since. Each statue has a unique face and shape, some contemplative and serious, others casual and humorous, and many show a modern edge in their artistic style and expressiveness compared to other collections of rakan statues.”
statue of rakan, a disciple of Buddha
pond near the entrance to Choanji Temple
pond at Choanji Temple
I thoroughly enjoy walking through this magical place and discovering all the rakan characters with their telling expressions. The setting is fabulous, with its abundance of green foliage, its setting on the hillside, its various shrines, its towering pines and moss-covered rocks, and its meandering steps and pathways.
rakan
rakan
rakan
rakan
at Choanji Temple
Choanji Temple
stone pagoda
rakan
pavilion
rakan at Choanji
rakan at Choanji
rakan at Choanji
rakan at Choanji
steps to the shrine
rakan at Choanji
steps to the shrine
shrine at Choanji
more steps
rakan
pathway through Choanji
rakan at Choanji
rakan
rakan
rakan at Choanji
cemetery at Choanji
running raccoon
another “temizuya” water pavilion
scoops
Choanji
rakan at Choanji
more rakan
rakan at Choanji
rakan at Choanji
more steps
rakan at Choanji
rakan at Choanji
rakan at Choanji
more rakan
glaring fellow
rakan at Choanji
I’m sad to leave this place behind, but I have a tight schedule. I spend too much time trying to figure out how to get a bus to the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, with several bus drivers telling me that I’m at the wrong stop and need to go elsewhere. I finally give up and end up walking there, quite a long haul. 🙂
Saturday, May 27: Before leaving the Hakone Open-Air Museum, I ask a man at the information desk how to get to the Hakone Museum of Art. He seems unsure, but finally tells me to take the train to Gora Station, and then get on the Sounzan Cable Car to Ko-en Kami Station. I had already done a Google map search and had seen I could take a bus, but he assures me it is easier to take the train and cable car. Upon arrival at Chokoku-no-mori station, I ask a Japanese man at the station about a bus, but he impatiently motions that I should WALK to Gora Station. I should have just hopped on the train as I have the Hakone Free Pass, so it doesn’t cost me anything additional to use any of the transportation in the area. As it is, I blindly take the man’s advice and end up walking quite a way up a steep hill and then packing myself into the cable car with hordes of other tourists.
Getting around in Hakone is supposedly convenient because of all the modes of transportation, but the timing of such transportation and the confusion about where to catch each mode makes it a challenge. It ends up being more time-consuming than I anticipated. Finally, I pop out of the cable car at the deserted Ko-en Kami Station, where I wonder if I’ve made a mistake because I’m the only one who gets off!
Just outside the station, I find some lively action, namely a tour group heading in the direction of the Hakone Museum of Art, indicated by a sign. I walk quickly to get ahead of them, and pay my 700 yen entry fee before the crowd converges. Then I walk quickly to the moss garden, keeping just ahead of the group.
Okada Mokichi (1882-1955) founded the Hakone Museum of Art in order that “works of art should not be monopolized but made available to be viewed and enjoyed by as many people as possible.” He hoped that increased exposure to art would help elevate human sentiments and make a big contribution towards cultural development. The Hakone Museum of Art focuses on displaying medieval Japanese ceramics from the Jomon period (10,000 B.C. – 200 B.C.) to the Edo period (1615-1867).
I’m sure the museum has a great collection, but I don’t come here today for that. I am here to see the moss garden and Sekiraku-en Garden. I wander through the stone paths under the shade of the maple trees. Before long the tour group passes by me and I have the garden to myself. It’s a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of Hakone’s many tourist attractions.
moss garden at the Hakone Museum of Art
I love nothing more than a quiet walk through a deserted and peaceful place.
moss garden at the Hakone Museum of Art
moss garden at the Hakone Museum of Art
moss-covered steps
The moss garden also has a teahouse where green tea is served for a small fee. I am decidedly not a tea drinker, which my Japanese students find shocking. How could anyone not like tea?
tea house in the moss garden
moss garden at the Hakone Museum of Art
moss garden
moss garden
moss garden
moss garden
moss, up close and personal
pathway through the moss garden
tangled roots
Besides the moss garden, the museum grounds feature a Japanese landscape garden, Sekiraku-en Garden, which spreads over the slopes of Gora. It features large decorative stones, a mountain stream and views over the valley and mountains.
Sekiraku-en Garden
Sekiraku-en Garden
tea house at Sekiraku-en Garden
Sekiraku-en Garden
Sekiraku-en Garden
Sekiraku-en Garden
Sekiraku-en Garden
Sekiraku-en Garden
Sekiraku-en Garden
back to the moss garden
moss garden at the Hakone Museum of Art
moss garden
moss garden
After leaving the beautiful moss garden, I decide I should go check in to my hotel. First, I have to find it! By now, it’s almost 4:00 and the other two things I hoped to do today are probably getting ready to close. My plan was to also visit Choanji Temple and the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, but as I already have a full day planned for tomorrow, I don’t know if I’ll be able to squeeze them in.
When I first arrived in Hakone this morning, a woman at the Tourist Information told me that I should take Bus S to my hotel. She had given me a map of the area where I’d be staying, which is near both Choanji Temple and the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands. I find the bus stop right outside the Hakone Museum of Art, and take Bus S, watching for the Senkyoro-mae stop. When I get off, I’m disoriented and have no idea which direction I should go. I’m near a crossroads and could go in four directions. I see some Japanese lettering which seems to match that on my hotel reservation; it says 500 meters, so I hike up and down and hilly road for half a kilometer. At the end of the road, I see a beautiful building on my right and I think, Wow! My hotel is beautiful! I should have known better as I got one of the cheapest hotels in Hakone at ~ $107. Many of the hotels in Hakone are $300-500 per night!! It turns out it was not my hotel at all but the fancy Hakone Venetian Glass Museum. The woman at the desk directs me right back down the road from where I just walked, and tells me which direction to go.
Back at the bus stop, I see there are two roads going off the main road in a V; I take the left branch. To my left, I find a quiet and pretty little garden and pond, which I stroll through. It’s delightful.
a secret garden not far from my hotel
whimsical garden
I continue following that road to the top of a hill where there is a hotel with a Japanese name. I ask the doorman if it’s my hotel. He directs me back down the hill and indicates I should have taken the branch of the V to the right. Well, well, well! That was the direction I had come from on the bus!
Back at the tip of the V, I walk up the hill that I came down on the bus. It’s a long uphill slog, but finally after another 500 meters, I find a sign that says Nakamura. At least that’s one word I recognize from my hotel name: Hakone Onsen Sanso Nakamura. I walk up to the office to sign in.
Almost to the door, I run into a youngish woman who tells me she’s going into town to get some food at the Family Mart and she wonders if I’d like to come along. She tells me she’s from Amsterdam and is traveling around Japan; that she was here with friends but they have now left, and that I should get some mosquito repellent because the pests are inundating the rooms. I thank her very much but tell her I just walked down three separate roads to get here, so I’d like to check in and relax a bit before I go anywhere.
Hakone Onsen Sanso Nakamura
I leave my walking sandals in a cubbyhole by the entrance and am told to put on some plastic slippers. I’d rather just go barefoot, but I do as I’m told. I’m directed to my room, after the receptionist tries to find my name on the hotel register. It’s right there in plain sight, my name in English, so even if he doesn’t know how to read English, it seems he’d recognize it as the only English name in sight.
In my Japanese-style room, I find my bag all wrapped in plastic and nicely delivered from Hakone Baggage Services. I check out the room and realize there’s nothing to do here, so I might as well head out to find something to eat. I’d already read that the hotel didn’t serve any food. The woman at the desk speaks a bit of English and tells me to go into the town; she gestures down the same hill I just climbed to get here!
Hakone Onsen Sanso Nakamura
Hakone Onsen Sanso Nakamura
Hakone Onsen Sanso Nakamura
After 500 meters, I reach the bus stop where I first disembarked and I walk through the pretty little garden in the V once again. It doesn’t look much different this time than it did the first time I walked through.
a stroll through a whimsical garden
whimsy in green
tangles in green
I walk and walk down the long straight road in Sengokuhara looking for a restaurant, but I don’t see much of anything. Finally, I find a place that appears to be a restaurant, so I wander in.
restaurant in Sengokuhara
entryway to the restaurant
Surprise, surprise! Here I find the young lady from Amsterdam who I ran into at my hotel. She tells me her name is Lee. I ask her if I can join her and we have a nice dinner together. She is of Vietnamese origin but grew up in Amsterdam, so she’s a Dutch citizen. She says she loves to travel and was with friends until today, but she’ll be traveling alone for the next week. She is so glad her friends (one of whom was a friend of her friend) have left; she was annoyed by the one girl who was just an acquaintance because she was on her phone constantly. She is on her way to Hiroshima tomorrow by the Shinkansen. She reports that all Dutch people live to travel and she’s no exception.
I order tempura and soba noodles. I’m not really all that hungry after my pizza for lunch earlier, so I end up leaving most of the noodles untouched. I do enjoy a beer though. 🙂
tempura and udon
me in the restaurant
It’s nice to have Lee to walk back to the hotel with, as it starts getting dark early. The road up to our hotel is a winding road without much of a shoulder so is pretty dangerous.
Back at the hotel, I go to my room, get undressed and put on the robe I find folded neatly in my closet. The hotel has a small onsen, so I go downstairs, wash off thoroughly, then soak in the very hot bath for about 20 minutes. I’m tired from all my walking, so I’m sure this relaxing bath will help me sleep tonight. 🙂
Total steps: 17,088 (7.24 miles).
Saturday, May 27: Today, I embark on my first overnight trip since I arrived in Japan. My destination is Hakone National Park, a district of mountain spas and thermal activity contained within an extinct volcano some 40km wide. The volcano became extinct some 400,000 years ago, but hot springs and spas, along with bubbling hot mud emitting sulfurous gas, can be found in the still-active crater. The main attractions of Hakone are its many onsen — hot springs with bathing facilities — and the variety of unique transportation modes available to get around.
Many people make a day trip here from Tokyo, but I think a day trip would be too much of a rush. I don’t like to travel to a place and then have to hurry and scurry to see everything; if possible, I prefer a more leisurely experience. I reserved a hotel room earlier in the week when I saw the weather forecast was good, and I’m glad I opted to stay the night.
To get to Hakone, I can simply take the Odakyu line from Machida, two stops from Fuchinobe, but I’ve heard that for a small increase in price, I can buy a reserved seat on the convenient Romancecar. The Romancecar is Odakyu Electric Railway’s name for its limited express luxury tourist services south-west of Tokyo, to mountain resorts such as Hakone and Gotemba (Mt. Fuji), as well as beaches such as Enoshima. The name comes from romance seats, two-person seats without separating armrests.
I asked several of my co-workers about whether I needed to reserve seats in advance for the Romancecar, but they told me they’ve always just bought the tickets at the station right before traveling. I don’t know why, but I decide to check online early this morning, and I find, much to my surprise, that the two departures closest to 9:00 are already sold out. I book my ticket for the 10:17 departure, which is later than I hoped to get started. I guess next time, I’ll book in advance.
At the Machida station, I buy the recommended Hakone Free Pass, which provides unlimited use of Odakyu-affiliated buses, trains, boats, cablecars and ropeways in the Hakone area, as well as discounted admission to selected tourist attractions on two or three consecutive days. As I only have the weekend, I buy the two-day pass from Machida, which is about 4,800 yen or around $44.
The train ride to Hakone on the Romancecar is very pleasant, and I decide that if I have to travel in this direction again, I will certainly use the Romancecar.
Transportation in Hakone runs in a circuit, with most people beginning on the Hakone Tozan Railway, the only mountain railway in Japan. Halfway up the line are switchbacks, where the driver and the conductor change shifts and the train reverses to switch direction.
Because my hotel is about halfway around the circuit, I avail myself of the fabulous Hakone Baggage Service, which delivers my bag directly to my hotel for about 800 yen, or $7.25. This is super convenient as it allows me to travel hands-free until I reach my hotel.
Then I head to the Romancecar Ticket Window and buy a ticket on the Romancecar for Sunday at 3:20.
After taking care of all this minutiae, it’s nearly 12:10 and I’m on the Hakone Tozan Railway heading for the Chokoku-no-mori station, the stop nearest the Hakone Open-Air Museum. Although I might not have picked this destination myself, one of my coworkers expressed a desire to travel all the way to Hakone just to see this museum; since she seemed so enthusiastic, I figure while I’m here I may as well see it.
This railway, which travels up the mountain in switchbacks, takes about 20 minutes. It’s standing room only when I get on, but I can see two lively Japanese couples drinking beer at a small table and laughing up a storm (see the man in the hat below). They are having a grand time. It’s not so much fun for those of us standing and not having a drink!
Hakone Tozan Railway
Hakone Tozan Railway
As soon as I get off the train, it’s time to eat! I’m starved. I walk down the street and see this funky Cafe Bar Woody.
Cafe Bar Woody
The server is laid-back and friendly and speaks a bit of English. After he takes my order for a margarita pizza, he stops to adjust the legs of Sheriff Woody, who is sitting on a shelf over my table. Then I notice the other Toy Story characters sitting around the restaurant. At first I think the Woody name is just about all the wood throughout the restaurant, but then I realize that it’s all about Toy Story and Sheriff Woody. How quirky and cute. 🙂
Lunch at Cafe Bar Woody
Sheriff Woody
Mister Potato Head
Buzz Lightyear
Margarita Pizza
After lunch, I head to the Hakone Open-Air Museum; it was founded in 1969 to serve as an outdoor art museum that would give people the opportunity to encounter great sculpture in a natural setting. The museum’s mission is “to promote sculpture as an environmental art and to bring new energy to Japan’s culture of art” (Hakone Open-Air Museum).
The Hakone Open-Air Museum
It takes me quite a long while to walk the grounds of this expansive museum.
Chimera con Ali (1963) – Marcello Mascherini (Italy)
I’m happy to find one of Taro Okamoto’s sculptures here, as I was unable to photograph any of his artwork when I visited the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art in Kawasaki.
L’Home Vegetal – Taro Okamoto (Japan)
Il Guerriero – Marino Marin (Italy)
Grande Striptease (1967) -Giacomo Manzu (Italy)
Three Figures (1968) – Marisol Escobar
I love this sculpture of a foliage-covered head in a pool; it is called La Pleureuse, which means mourner.
La Pleureuse (1986) – Francois-Xavier & Claude Lalanne (France)
Sound of Wind (1988) – Takao Tsuchida (Japan)
tall figures
an imposing character
entangled couple
Manteau (1968) – Churyo Sato (Japan)
field of dreams
curvaceous
stout woman
Grandson of the General – Kitamura (Japan)
decay
Weisser Maskierter Kopf (1981-82) – Rainer Kriester (Germany)
Always a fan of Japanese ponds, I love this floating red sculpture.
floating water sculptures
floating in the pond
colorful carp
water sculpture
woman on dolphin
sculptures in the woods
creature
serenity
woman with baby
stuntmen
One part of the Hakone Open-Air Museum is the Picasso Collection. As in most Japanese museums, no photography is allowed.
Picasso Collection
EGrande Figura Seduta N.2 (1969) – Emilio Greco (Italy)
sculpture in front of the Picasso collection
Le Grand Prophete – Pablo Gargallo (Spain)
PIcasso Collection
Fairy Chapel – Japan
Sphere-Trames (1962-63) – Francois Morellet (France)
Utsurohi – A Moment of Movement (1981/2015) – Aiko Miyawaki (Japan)
lounging in the grass
I climb the steps inside the Symphonic Sculpture, with its walls of stained glass. At the top, I have a great view of the museum and the mountains of Hakone.
Symphonic Sculpture – Produced by Nobutaka Skikanai
inside the Symphonic Sculpture – Sculptured glass by Gabriel Loire
inside the Symphonic Sculpture – Sculptured glass by Gabriel Loire
inside the Symphonic Sculpture – Sculptured glass by Gabriel Loire
inside the Symphonic Sculpture – Sculptured glass by Gabriel Loire
View from the Symphonic Sculpture
View from the Symphonic Sculpture
View from the Symphonic Sculpture
walking down the Symphonic Sculpture
Reclining Figure (1969-70) – Henry Moore (UK)
another reclining figure?
and another?
Fugue Fustante (1982-83) – Antoine Poncet (France)
Close (1993) – Antony Gormley (UK)
Mother and Child: Block (1983-84) – Henry Moore (UK)
unknown beings
a well-dressed lady
The Symphonic Sculpture provides an interesting anchor to the leisurely sculptures scattered across the green lawn.
Symphonic Sculpture
Family Group (1948-49) – Henry Moore (UK)
Symphonic Sculpture
all dressed up and no place to go
Ferns in the garden
La Victoire de Villetaneuse – Cesar (French)
Garden of Stars
stone sculpture
Grande Racconto (2004) – Giuliano Vangi (Italy)
Grande Racconto (2004) – Giuliano Vangi (Italy)
unknown sculpture
orb sculpture
tree trunk sculpture
fierce men
rings
It’s fun to watch Spatiodynamique No. 22 whirl about in the breeze.
Spatiodynamique No. 22 (1954-80) – Nicolas Schoffer (Hungarian-French)
green fields
iron sculpture
more reclining figures?
hooded stone figure
Balzac (1891-98) – Auguste Rodin (French)
After wandering for an hour and half through this outdoor museum, a rather quirky place, I leave, heading for the Hakone Museum of Art. At this museum, I’m most interested in seeing the moss garden and the Sekiraku-en Garden. By this time it’s nearly 3:00, and I’m in search of the Sounzan Cable Car.
Time sure flies when traveling!
catbird in japan 