Hakone Open-Air Museum

The museum opened in 1969 as the first open-air sculpture museum in Japan, on a hillside in the Hakone mountains, and the setting does the work - about a hundred pieces are placed across seven hectares of grass and slope with the valley behind them, so the sculpture is seen against landscape rather than wall. Henry Moore is represented in depth, with a rotating selection from a large holding, along with Miro, Rodin, Giacometti, Bourdelle and Niki de Saint Phalle. The Picasso Pavilion holds around three hundred works, mostly ceramics from his later years, assembled with the involvement of his daughter Maya. Two pieces are enterable: the Symphonic Sculpture, a tower of stained glass with a spiral stair inside, and a netted play structure for children. A foot bath fed by a hot spring runs along one terrace, which is a Hakone touch.

What you actually see

• Sculpture on a hillside - about a hundred works over seven hectares against the valley.
• The Picasso Pavilion - around three hundred works, mostly late ceramics.
• The Symphonic Sculpture - a stained-glass tower with a spiral stair inside it.
• A hot spring foot bath - fed from the Hakone springs along one terrace.

When to go

All year; clear days for the valley backdrop. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

Entry is expensive by museum standards. The site is a hillside with slopes and steps throughout. Rain and cloud, both common in Hakone, remove much of the point of an outdoor museum. Works rotate, so a specific piece may not be out.

Nearby

Gora is up the line; Owakudani and Lake Ashi are beyond it.