📍 Hakone Museum of Art 箱根美術館
@ Hakone, Japan 🇯🇵
We visited the Hakone Museum of Art on 20 November 2025, and it quickly became one of our favourite places in Hakone. With the 1,600 yen combo ticket purchased earlier at Gora Park, we could skip the ticket queue and enter smoothly when the museum opened.
Inside, the museum showcases traditional Japanese ceramics and art pieces in a calm, minimalist setting. The architecture blends beautifully with the gardens, creating a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere throughout our visit.
The gardens are the true highlight:
🌿 苔庭 (Moss Garden)
Exclusively beautiful — soft moss carpets, gentle stone lanes, and quiet autumn colours. We crossed a wooden bridge and enjoyed the serene scenery. We even saw an elder speaking with the caretaker, which showed how much attention and dedication goes into maintaining the garden’s pristine look.
🍁 神仙郷 (Shinsenkyo Garden)
A spacious and elegant garden with open views and warm autumn colours. Perfect for slow walking and appreciating the natural landscape.
🍵 真和亭 (Shinwatei Teahouse)
One of the most memorable moments. We enjoyed tea and Japanese sweets for 800 yen, a lovely and worthwhile experience. The courtyard garden surrounding the teahouse is peaceful, and the reflection of the autumn leaves on the glossy table surface was simply beautiful — like nature creating its own artwork. It was calming, warm, and unforgettable.
Overall, the museum is more than just an art space — it is a place to slow down, breathe, and appreciate the beauty of Japanese nature and traditional aesthetics.
A serene, beautifully curated museum with stunning gardens, peaceful pathways, and a wonderful 800-yen tea experience at 真和亭. A must-visit in Hakone. 🍁🌿🍵✨
Such a 😻 beautifully maintained park and excellent for autumn leaves along with small moss area. Not very big and sometimes I felt its little too pricey for what they offered. But yes during Autumn leaves season definitely you can visit along with visiting nice Art museum area.
This museum is made up of several pottery exhibits and a beautiful garden. Loved learning about ancient Japanese pottery. I visited on a Monday in April, and it was very quiet so I could really take my time admiring everything.
A relatively small but calming Japanese style moss garden with exhibit halls showing paintings of a Japanese artist and also some ancient Japanese pottery. Parts of the garden were closed off and there was some repair works when I visited at the end of September 2024. There is also a small tea house where you can buy tea and a small snack to sit and admire the moss garden. As it was empty and looked dark inside, it looked closed and I didn’t go in. I took my time at this garden/museum and stayed around 1 hr 45 minutes. I would say if you’re the check-box type of traveller, an hour would be more than sufficient. There is free parking within 3 minutes walking distance of the entrance.
I had a wonderful time visiting Hakone Museum of Art. The museum has a peaceful atmosphere that perfectly complements the beauty of Hakone, and the collection of traditional Japanese ceramics and artworks was both elegant and thoughtfully displayed. What made the experience especially memorable was the stunning garden surrounding the museum, with its seasonal flowers, moss-covered paths, and serene views that felt almost meditative to walk through. It’s a perfect place to slow down, appreciate Japanese aesthetics, and enjoy a quiet escape from the busy tourist spots
