So I spend 3 weeks in Japan this Christmas and I hope to get round to writing about a few things which I got up to. Let’s kick things off with one of my highlights - the Hakone Open Air Museum.
Predominately a sculpture based display, set against a stunning backdrop of mountains. The art was really varied - some traditional, some modern, but all beautiful placed intermittently within the surrounding, making the works look a little otherworldly.
One of the first things we saw was “Man and Pegasus” - some feet up, totally parallel to the ground as if caught in flight.
There was a giant head covered in ivy leaves in a pool of water, entitled “Narcissus”. It reminded me of something out of Lord of the Rings!
There was a jenga-like structure of dull wood, which housed a colourful crocheted web of tunnels for the under 12s to go wacky-warehouse-crazy in.
Another surprise was a tall circular building which looked like something out of Brazil - unfriendly, dull and a bit ominous. But inside the walls were lined in bright mosaic and you could climb the spiral staircase.
We followed the trail round and there was so much to take it. The place was a little surreal. We passed a giant buffalo, a flat large fried egg and a naked figure spread eagled into the ground. Every corner of the grounds had something interesting to look at - even in the pool of koi carp there were large bright orange shapes floating on top of the water.
We popped into the Picasso gallery and finished the day at a hot foot spa, looking out at the grounds. I think this was the best “museum” I’ve ever been to.
