Museums in Hakone

The Hakone Museum of Art is a serene institution displaying Japanese ceramics from the Jomon period to the Edo era. Its greatest treasure, however, is the exquisite moss garden — one of the most beautiful in the Kanto region.

The Hakone Open-Air Museum, opened in 1969, was Japan's first outdoor sculpture museum. Spread across 70,000 square meters of rolling grounds with mountain views, it displays over 120 works by modern and contemporary masters including Rodin, Moore, and Niki de Saint Phalle.

The Hakone Venetian Glass Museum recreates a corner of Venice in the Hakone mountains. Its European-style garden and collection of 15th–19th century Venetian glasswork transport visitors to another world entirely.

The Pola Museum of Art is a striking modernist building by architect Hiroshi Nikaidō, elegantly embedded into a forested hillside in the Sengokuhara highlands. Its collection of approximately 10,000 works spans Western Impressionism, Japanese art, and cosmetics-related artifacts.

The Hakone Checkpoint (Hakone Sekisho) is a faithful reconstruction of the Edo-period barrier gate that once controlled all traffic on the critical Tokaido highway linking Edo (Tokyo) with Kyoto. It stands beside Lake Ashi where the original checkpoint operated for over 260 years.

The Hakone Geomuseum is a small but informative museum at the Owakudani station explaining the volcanic geology that created the Hakone caldera, its hot springs, and the ongoing volcanic activity visible from its doorstep.

The Hakone Ekiden Museum celebrates the Tokyo–Hakone Ekiden, one of Japan's most watched sporting events — a two-day, ten-section relay marathon covering 217.1 km between central Tokyo and the Hakone turnabout point beside Lake Ashi.

The Suzuhiro Kamaboko Museum, operated by a kamaboko producer founded in 1865, is an interactive museum dedicated to the art and science of making this traditional Japanese fish cake. Visitors can learn the history and try their hand at crafting their own.