Force Interactions = Intimacy

In tourist hubs its easy to just into a chain Supermarket and checkout without ever saying a word or even having to really interact with anyone. But staying in one of these little known villages, compared to the tourist hubs means you’ll experience a side of rural France you won’t get in the larger cities. Almost no one speaks English here, so you have to get by with French or non-verbal communication.

And while this might sound frightening to some, it really makes you interact with the locals at a more intimate level. This extra time involved in interactions means you really get to know them, and them you. Below is our local fruit market. A mother and son were always working the till when we visited and it was great to get to know them as we would stop in for something different everyday.

The Price

Staying in a small town means you’ll save a ton of money and get a lot more space. We rented an enormous, renovated 17th-century manor house which felt like we were staying in a castle! The house was huge and we had so much fun just wandering around the grounds and discovering new hidden features of the stone edifice. We had our own private pool, 5 bedrooms, a beautiful dining room and outdoor eating area and best of all, an absolutely jaw-dropping view across the Luberon valley. And all of this for under $230 US a night, which worked out to just under $46 per person. While you can definitely find hostels cheaper than this, for the size, amenities and incredible location you really can’t find better for the price than in a small town.

Local Restaurants

Eating at local restaurants, which don’t aim to cater to tourists, gives you the chance to eat what the locals eat. The menus are almost all in French but the staff was always incredibly kind in helping us figure out what everything was and what to order. They seemed so happy to have us visiting their restaurant and were so proud of their cuisine and getting the chance to share it with us. I assume that while serving the same people day in and day out is a lovely routine, it must be exciting to show off to some newcomers.

Local dishes are astonishingly simple yet tasty since everything they use is grown nearby and the freshness adds to the flavor. Here, you’ll be paying small town prices, you’ll find glasses of wine here are almost half as much as they would be only an hour away in Avignon. You might find it hard to pull yourself away from the bar at those prices and the ridiculously good wines this region has to offer. We came to know the restaurant owners by name and when we left they hugged us goodbye. While I LOVE eating at astonishing Michelin star restaurants which you can find in the big cities, I don’t think you’ll ever find the charming kindness which you’ll receive in places like Merindol.

People are Curious

You get a lot of attention being the new person in a town which only has a population of 2,000. While that attention might not be for everyone, we found that we were absolutely dotted on. They knew us right away, even if they hadn’t met us before, since we were the only ones in town they didn’t recognize. They were keen to show us different parts of village their favourite baked good and even little details about the history of the town.

The Architecture

Small towns have a style of architecture all their own. They never had the finances to hire the best architects or spend thousands on the most expensive materials. But that doesn’t mean they were influenced by all those popular styles seen around the world. They brought those trends to their home town, made by local artisans and in a style unique to that maker. Lack of urbanization and modernization also means that many of these towns permanently feel lost in the past, in the most romantic way possible. The same cobblestones which lined the streets when there were horse-drawn carriages are still there today, the indentations of the wagon wheels still apparent if you look close enough.

Peace and Quiet

While a relaxing vacation might not be for everyone, a small town makes you unwind without you even knowing it. Everything there is done at a slower pace and you have to just give in to this atmosphere. I’m someone who loves to go-go-go but I found that here in Merindol, I found myself just wanting to sit out on my balcony, looking out over the valley, enjoying the sunset. Although we did head out of town throughout the week, almost all of us chose one or more days to just stay at the house and enjoy our home-away-from-home. Sitting up on that balcony, reading the antique books I found on the dusty shelves will still be one of the most powerful memories I hold close to my heart from that trip.

Discovery

A small town in France like Meridol doesn’t have a lot of “activities” listed on TripAdvisor nor do they fill chapters in guide books. There isn’t even much information online (although I’m working on my own post about this amazing place). This means that it’s up to you to discover things for yourself. We found a little path near our house and set off to explore. When we got to the top of the path we were surprised to find a historic site with a plaque in French all about the area.

We had to then translate every word to figure out the history of where we were standing and were mesmerized by this incredible story of war and loss which was just a stone’s throw from our house.Learning about this piece of history was so exciting since we hadn’t read about it before or even knew it existed. This same thing seemed to happen every time we took a walk, we would wander across a stunning vista or find the most charming little church. They might not have been things we knew were but we certainly were thrilled to discover them.

Be Your Own Chef

One of the possible downsides of small towns is that there are very few restaurants and there is always at least one or two days a week when they are closed. But I don’t really see this as a true downside, I see it as an opportunity! The lack of places to go out for dinner means you have to cook for yourself! While many of us go on vacation to avoid cooking, there is something exciting about going to the local market and seeing what the seasonal produce is around. Buy whatever looks delicious. I wouldn’t worry too much about making a “recipe” per se, instead, buy up items to make a little picnic at home.

Fresh Food Shopping

My favourite foods from Provence were fresh fruit from roadside stalls, a loaf of soft crusty bread from the bakery along with a few of their favourite desserts. Get some cheese from the man down the road who sells it out of his kitchen fridge. Olives and cured sausage from the corner store are a perfect accompaniment. There are shops selling wine from wineries around the region in every small town, stop by and pick up their favourite. Together this makes for a laid back meal you can enjoy in the comfort of your rental home. Kick your feet up and recount your favourite memories from the trip thus far staring out across the vivid landscape.

While staying in a small town on vacation might not be for everyone, you do need to be able to rent a car since most of these tiny towns don’t offer public transport, there is absolutely a delightful charm they hold. The silent streets you’ll have all to yourself will call your name to come back soon. I know they still call my name and I can’t wait to visit them again.

The post The Best Reasons to Visit a Small Town in Provence and Skip the Touristy Towns first appeared on The Creative Adventurer.

Admission and Hours

The fee seemed steep at 1,000 yen ($10 USD), but we decided to plop down a few yen and were inside. 1,000 yen might look like a lot for a self-guided walk through an old garden, but it was some of the best money we spent on the trip! The gardens are open from 9 am to 5 pm.

Access

From Kyoto Station, take the Japan Railways (JR) Saiin Line to Saga Arashiyama Station. It is a fifteen-minute walk from there.

History

The Ōkōchi Sansō was once the estate of a famous Japanese actor Okochi Denjiro (1898-1962). He became a star at a young age. But instead of blowing the money on cars, drugs or clothes as young stars do now – he decided to build this monument to Japanese architecture. He built this villa and the gardens as an escape, and it was opened to the public after his death. Now, it offers the public the sense of escape it once offered him.

The buildings within the garden have been recorded as cultural properties by the national government. Most of them were constructed in the 1930s and 40s except for the Jibutsudō, an original structure from the Meiji Era that was moved from its original location to this site after Okochi Denjiro purchased it to save it from destruction.

Chūmon Gate

To set off on the walking tour of the gardens, one only has to follow the signs along the pathway. The thing you’ll pass by is the Chūmon. A Chūmon, or “intermediate gate”, is built to divide the outer and inner tea gardens. It is where the host would meet his guests as he invited them inside for tea. Stepping through the gate is like being welcomed home.

Daijōkaku

After passing through this gate, you come upon the main building in the compound, the Daijōkaku. This is where Denjiro Okochi’s bedroom used to be and where he would spend most of his free time when he wasn’t entertaining in the tea house. The house is known for being one of the best examples of traditional Japanese residential architecture. It combines many styles of Japanese architecture, such as shoin-zukuri and sukiya-zukuri.

Architecture

These architectural styles seem in direct opposition, one for large, opulent houses and the other, meaning literally, “a small space, simple and austere.” The shinden-zukuri was a style of architecture that flourished in the Heian period. These buildings faced south, were comprised of a single story and were raised off the ground with wooden pillars. There was no tatami flooring, and the roof was made with cypress shingles. The sukiya-zukuri architecture uses slender wood elements and the simplicity of ornamentation.

From the front of the Daijōkaku, you have a lovely view of the forest and the mountain to the south. But this view pales compared to the one you get at the top of the garden path. After taking in the view here for a bit, we headed back off on the trail.

Flora and Fauna

The upper portion of the trail shows off the garden’s flora and fauna. The garden was designed to highlight all the different seasons. So no matter when you visit, there is always something stunning. Unlike some gardens where they only have one season of truly spectacular foliage or flowers, this garden can be enjoyed throughout the year. In the spring, we have cherry blossoms, azaleas in the summer, Japanese maple trees for the fall, and pine trees for the winter months. Until this point in the trip, we hadn’t seen many autumn colours since it was fairly early. But here, trees were starting to change colour, and the orange and gold leaves glowed against the crystal blue sky.

The grounds themselves take up about 20,000 square meters, and the guest pathway only shows you a small portion of the villa. One can only imagine what treasures are hidden in this estate. You’ll discover Buddha statues, water features, sculptures hidden in Cyprus trees and rose bushes throughout the stone path.

Hozu River Gorge

At the top of the path, you’ll come to a lookout point where you can see the slopes of Mount Hiei, Mount Arashi and Mount Ogura and the Hozu River gorge. Wandering in the Bamboo forest, you can’t see out to the landscape around you, but from up here, we saw things we never even would have known were there!

Senkaku Senkoji

Hidden in the mountains, you can see a tiny temple poking its head out of the trees. This is the Senkaku Senkoji temple. Its iconic coloured flags make it stand out amongst the green trees.

There is a term in landscape architecture called “borrowed scenery,” which means: “to incorporate the background landscape into the design.” Walking through the winding cobblestones and twisting pathways, you can understand this design as the garden and the forest seem intertwined.

Jibutsudō

The Jibutsudō, with its Irimoya-style roof, is a Buddhist shrine which was moved from its original location to the villa in Arashiyama. Jibutsudōs are buildings from the Meiji Era that were made for rich noblemen to practice Buddism in the comfort of their own homes. A private place of worship.

Chashitsu

Along this path, you’ll also find the original Chashitsu. This small tea room was designed for intimate gatherings with typical tea room features like soft, sliding doors made of wooden lattice covered in translucent Japanese paper, tatami mats and subdued colours.

Moon Light Pavilion

In my opinion, the piece-de-resistance of the whole estate is the Moon Light Pavilion. This open-air building is at the highest point in the garden and gives you the best view of Kyoto, the forest and the mountains. All are framed under a simplistic Japanese gazebo. Sitting here, you’ll feel on top of the world. The landscape below looked like a rainbow from here, orange and yellow trees, green mountains and a bright blue sky.

Tea Room

After the moon pavilion, we headed back down the trail to finish our tour with a cup of tea. Near the exit is a new tea room built to serve tea to all the guests who still visit this site, keeping Okochi Denjiro’s tradition alive. Inside this building, you are seated and served a hot cup of matcha tea and a little sweet treat.

We took a seat towards the back of the room with a view of the bamboo forest behind us. Here, surrounded only by a few other visitors, we had a private viewing of the famous bamboo forests where hundreds of tourists were crammed inside only hours earlier.

The tea itself was a welcome treat. The warm liquid hit the spot on a sunny but chilly, windy day. The matcha is slightly bitter and is purposefully served with the sweet candy cake to balance out the flavour of the tea.

Tea Room Experience

We sat quietly in the tea room for as long as we felt welcome (we honestly could have been forever). I read my guidebook and planned our next destination; Dan changed his phone and relaxed in the silent chatter of the tea room. We listened to other families talking about their travels. Taking a moment to step back and appreciate where we were, what we had done and what adventures were around the corner.

We said “arigato” and bowed deeply to the servers as we left. On the way out, many people approached the gate and turned away once reading the admission price. We shook our heads and smiled at each other as we had just uncovered a secret only we would take away with us. Don’t make the same mistake those people did. Come inside and soak it all in.

Your secret garden awaits.

The post Discovering the Hidden Gem in Arashiyama: A Guide to Kyoto’s Okochi Sanso Garden first appeared on The Creative Adventurer.

Sculpture is an art of the open air

Henry Moore

Table Of Contents

1. Access
   • Train
   • Car
   • Bus
2. Hours and Costs
3. History
4. Gallery Guide
   • Hercules, the Archer
   • La Pleureuse
   • Sky Hole
   • Man and Pegasus
   • Curved Space-Diamond Structure
   • High-Performance Design
   • Entering the Forest
   • Bronzes
   • Floating Sculpture 3
   • My Sky Hole
   • Eva
5. Garden of Stars
   • Personnage
   • Woods of Net
   • Wonder Space 2
   • Ossip Zadkine
   • Picasso Building
   • Le Fleur Qui Marche
   • Symphonic Sculpture
   • Interior of the Tower
   • Footbaths
   • Reclining Figure
   • Close
   • Miss Black Power
   • Mother and Child
   • The Hand of God
   • Grande Racconto
   • Space Construction
   • Sphere within Sphere
   • Sixteen Turning Sticks
   • Never-Ending Dialogue
   • Balzac
   • Gift Shop

Access

Train

Travelling on the Tozan Railway from Hakone-Yumoto station will be free if you get the Hakone Free Pass. If you choose not to get the pass, the journey will cost 400 yen ($4 USD). It takes about 30 minutes from Hakone-Yumoto to get to Chokoku No Mori station. Be sure to get a window seat for the journey since the trip is one of the most scenic rides you can have in Japan.

Car

If you are travelling by car, the museum has a large parking lot where you can leave your car while visiting the museum. Google map is a great resource for your journey, but it will end with driving down prefectural road 723 where you’ll find the museum.

Bus

If you’re coming from somewhere in Hakone, not near any of the big train stations, you can take one of the many buses over to the museum. Take the Izu-Hakone Bus to the Ninotaira Iriguchi bus stop. From here, it is only a 5-minute walk to the museum. 

Hours and Costs

The museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00, 365 days a year! Admission is 1600 yen (USD 12) or 1500 yen (USD 11) if you print out this discounted ticket pass. Just print out the discount page and present it at checkout to save 100 yen.

There are a few dozen lockers outside the museum where you can stash your bags if you have any. We had a few heavy knapsacks with us since we hadn’t checked in at our hotel when we arrived at the museum, and storing them here would have been a great way to explore the museum unencumbered. Lockers cost 400 yen and only accept coins.

History

The museum was opened in 1966 to create a space where there could be a “dialogue between nature and art.” The park is over 70,000 square meters, with over 120 works from Japanese artists and international superstars. The pieces in the gardens are select sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Gallery Guide

After you pay your admission, you’ll descend an escalator into the park’s central area. The moment you step off the escalator, you’ll see the hillside appear in front of you, marked with almost magical-looking sculptures.

Hercules, the Archer

One of the first pieces you’ll see when you descend is Hercules, the Archer by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle. Emile-Antoine Bourdelle worked as an assistant in Rodin’s studio. While many of their styles are similar, the differences are also stark. Rodin followed a strict analytical modelling technique, whereas Bourdelle wanted to modernize sculpture from its original Greek and Roman influences. The energy in this piece is so dynamic. The archer’s arm is taut, and his muscle flex as he pulls at an invisible bowstring.

La Pleureuse

Turning left from the Bourdelle, you’ll come up to the fantastical pool of water where an enormous stone head lies. This is La Pleureuse by Francois Xavier and Claude Lalanne. It was sculpted in 1986 using a huge piece of Italian trani stone. La Pleureuse means “the mourner”. She lives in the water, bright green leaves sprouting from her hair. Get up close to the statue, where you can see a teardrop descending from her cheek into the waters below. She is captivating, and her green hair against the cherry blossoms blooming behind her was a perfect composition.

Sky Hole

Behind Le, Pleureuse is one of the famous Sky Holes by Bukichi Inoue. Inoue has several pieces throughout the gardens. Each one allows the user to explore their surroundings from a different perspective. In this piece near the front, the viewer climbs through this tiny doorway into a black box and walks down the stairs into the earth itself. Once down in the depths of the box, there is a small viewing window in the darkness which allows the light to come through and where you can look outside.

Man and Pegasus

After making your way out of the Sky Hole, walk to the large open square where a tall column reaches the sky. Atop the white column is a black sculpture of a man seemingly leaping off a horse. This is Man and Pegasus by Carl Milles. Milles was a Swedish artist who loved creating daring works that integrated themselves into their environment. In this piece, the Pegasus appears to be falling, and from the height of the column, the fall is far more perilous. The man leaps off the back of the horse, only the toes of his foot still touching the Pegasus. He seems to fly forward, defying the laws of gravity. Placed against the dark forest backdrop, the man appears to fly into the clouds.

Curved Space-Diamond Structure

Walking down the ramp behind the Milles statue, we come up with the giant gemstone installation by Peter Pearce, Curved Space-Diamond Structure. There are signs all over the piece asking children to remove their shoes and that only kids can play inside. That’s right; if you have any little ones with you, they are more than just allowed to touch the piece; they can climb up inside and explore!

High-Performance Design

While adults aren’t allowed to go inside, you can still explore all the different sides of the piece from every angle. Every so often, catching a glimpse of a brightly coloured sweater or dress passing by. The structure itself was based on the shape of a diamond molecule enlarged 8 billion times. Pearce was always fascinated with natural geometries and “High-Performance Design.” Both of these themes perfectly harmonize with the gallery’s concept.

The Space-Diamond is where you can also find one of the only vending machines in the park. Selling hot tea and juice is the perfect thing to grab to warm up or cool down for the remainder of your journey.

Entering the Forest

Walk down the stairs from the Space-Diamond, and you’ll come to a rope bridge which crosses a small pond. On either side of the pond are lushes forests which seem like artworks onto themselves.

Bronzes

Nestled into the corner to the right of the bridge are several bronze statues by Francesco Messina, Yuki Shintani and Carl Milles. These works of art are all of the people and, from afar, look like little nymphs hiding amongst the trees.

Floating Sculpture 3

To the left of the bridge is Floating Sculpture 3 by Marta Pan. The floating sculptures are painted the same vermillion colours as the Tori gates in Japan. The designs move and sway in the water. Pan was inspired by dancers and their balanced movements when creating this work. In the water swim, dozens of koi fishes dance along with the movement of the kinetic sculptures.

My Sky Hole

Exiting the pond, you walk up a gentle incline, gated by another My Sky Hole by Bukichi Inoue. This is a giant glass sphere held by four thin concrete columns. Craning your head upwards towards the sphere, you can see the world reflected back at you.

Eva

Walk north towards the garden of stars, and be sure to pass by the Eva by Francesco Messina. Messina, an Italian sculptor born in 1900, is one of the most critical figurative sculptors of the 20th century. His pieces represent the “ideal woman,” unattainable in life, captured only in his art.

Garden of Stars

Further up the hill, you come upon the Garden of Stars. The Garden of Stars is a giant maze in the shape of multiple inlaid stars. From afar, it looks like nothing more than a flower bed, but on closer inspection, you can see that space between the green grass and flowers is a deep recess where you can explore. Adults can wind their way through the maze, taking time to stop and smell the roses.

Surrounding the maze is a group of statutes by Yoshitatsu Yanagihara. Yoshitatsu Yanagihara was a Japanese sculptor born in 1910. Her work centres around the “spirit of humanistic inquiry into the essence of nature and life”, another good fit for the museum’s theme.

Personnage

To the left of the Garden of Stars, you descend slightly towards Personnage by Joan Miró. Miró was a Spanish artist and one of the most well-known Surrealist sculptors. His work in Personnage explores the idea of art created from poetry. The different shapes and colours plastered onto the forms are like words that create a beautiful poem for him. 

Woods of Net

Behind the Miro is what looks like a meticulous stack of piled wood. Fittingly enough, this piece is called Woods of Net, created by Tezuka Architects. This is one of the only parts in the museum which was created by an architectural team instead of an artist. But without knowing that, you can’t tell the difference, as this piece is overwhelmingly beautiful and transcendent. The structure is made of only strips of timber, without ANY metal! 320 cubic meters of wood was used to create the structure, and over 500 different kinds of wood were used. The technique for the joints inside the pavilion was derived from thousand-year-old Japanese wooden temple designs. When you step inside, the smell of freshly cut wood still permeates the air.

Wonder Space 2

The pavilion was created specifically to hold the works of Canadian artist Toshoiko Horiuchi MacAdam. As you walk through the open gateway, you see the brightly coloured wonder that is Knitted Wonder Space 2. Horiuchi MacAdam went about hand-knitting each piece which hung from the ceiling. Horiuchi MacAdam was inspired by the works of Antoni Gaudi, who also loved incorporating nature’s undulated and curving forms, instead of straight lines and rigid geometry, in his artwork.

The piece took over 650kg of braided nylon, three months to dye, and over a year spent crocheting the textile into nets. The net is meant to symbolize the cradle of a womb. The net rocks and floats in the air like a baby would be carried inside the mother before birth. Children under a certain weight and age can crawl through the net. The net captures the slightest movement of the child and transmits it back to him like a wave. The more children play inside, the more waves you have, connecting the children in these undulating waves. Maybe one day, she will create something stable enough for adults since even the oldest among us yearn to be a child once more.

Ossip Zadkine

Up the hill from the Wood of Nets is a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine, Van Gogh Marchant à Travers Champs. One of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings inspired the statue, subsequently destroyed during WWII, of the famous artist walking through the countryside in France with his painting equipment. Van Gogh spent much of his painting career portraying the French landscape around him. It is a lovely tribute to Van Gogh, eternally walking in the outdoors he loved so much.

Picasso Building

Across the bridge, at the very top of the art gallery space, is an enormous building with the words “Picasso” written across the front. Inside this oblong pavilion are over 300 paintings, photographs, ceramics and more created by this legendary artist. Each one was donated to the museum by the artist’s daughter and provided an intimate look into the artist’s life outside his most prolific works. My favourite was the stained glass windows he created using gemmail. Gemmail is formed by fusing layers of coloured glass fragments to create a three-dimensional image. I’d never seen this kind of stained glass, which was absolutely stunning.

Le Fleur Qui Marche

Outside the Pavillion is a giant sculpture by Leger, Le Fleur qui Marche. Leger made himself a household name during the cubist period with his inventive and imaginative paintings. After WWII, he began to explore ceramics and art for public squares. Walking Flowers explores the ideas of nature and the human spirit combining into one anthropomorphic form.

Walking east from the pavilion, you walk through a few small landscape areas of the garden, which feature some small pieces of art, but the focus here is more on the beauty of the natural environment. 

Symphonic Sculpture

At the back of the grounds is a modernist cafe where you can buy treats and drinks. They often have seasonal flavours, but prices are steep, as can be expected for gallery cafes. There is also a small souvenir shop where you can purchase different items to commemorate your trip.

Across from the cafe is the most iconic structure in the museum, Symphonic Sculpture by Gabriel Loire. This 18-meter tall circular steel tower is surrounded by brightly coloured stained glass. Once you enter the tower, you ascend a narrow set of winding stairs toward a lookout.

As you walk up the stairs, take time to study the incredible glasswork surrounding you. The stained glass created by Loire is called “slab glass” because it is much thicker than the glass developed in the medieval era. The opaque glass allows for deeper colours, especially when illuminated by bright sunlight. Loire was an impressionist and used glass like Van Gogh used paints to depict the Starry Night, or Monet did with Water Lilies.

Interior of the Tower

From the top of the tower is an incredible view of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. In the springtime, you can see brightly coloured cherry blossoms colouring the treetops. And in the autumn, a blanket of reds and gold covers the skyline like a warm glow.

Footbaths

Down a small pathway from the tower are the footbaths. These footbaths are filled with warm water from the hot springs. Here you can sit on the edge of a long bench and dip your tired feet into the water. Press the up and down on the stones beneath to help give yourself a bit of a massage. If you didn’t bring a towel and needed to dry off, you could buy a small souvenir towel from the attendant for only 100 yen.

Reclining Figure

As you return to the front of the museum, you’ll pass several figures by Henry Moore. The first is Reclining Figure. Henry Moore found himself possessed by two themes throughout his work; the Mother and Child and the Reclining Figure. The reclining figure symbolized womanhood, life, survival and endurance for Moore.

Close

One of the more amusing pieces is Close by Anthony Gormley. A naked bronze cast of a human spread eagle is embedded into the ground. The grass grows around the piece, and it looks like someone has just leapt off a roof and landed on the ground below. Gormley says his work is “an attempt to materialize the place at the other side of appearance where we all live.”

Miss Black Power

The vibrant Miss Black Power by Niki de Saint Phalle is visible through the trees from many areas of the park because she is so brightly painted and enormous in size. Miss Black Power is an extension of Phalle’s significant themes in her work; the role of women in society and social change.

Mother and Child

Mother and Child: Block Seat, once more by Henry Moore, brings to life his modern reinvention of the everlasting image of the Madonna and Child.

The Hand of God

The Hand of God by Carl Milles was one of the last works this incredible artist ever created. Looking up into the forest, we can see an enormous human hand balancing a naked human form on his thumb and forefinger. The standing man looks to be gazing at the sky like he is watching or listening to something far off in the distance. The is something about this piece being so closely connected to the artist’s death, which makes it all the more poignant. 

Grande Racconto

Grande Racconto by Giuliano Vangi depicts one man’s journey into the future. He is represented twice in the piece. On one side, you see him overcome with anxiety. As you walk around the sculpture, you see trees take shape out of the stone. On the opposite side, you can see the same man bursting forth into the future, free of fear and ready to face a new day. Perhaps with a better connection to the natural world and the peace that can be found there, you can better face the realities of the human world.

Space Construction

This south side of the garden features more interpretive and modern-looking sculptures. Intersecting Space Construction by Ryoji Goto comprises hundreds of tiny human figures. Each one is in a leaping position, connected to the ones above, below and on either side. The sculpture is meant to symbolize the beauty made through the human connection.

Sphere within Sphere

Sphere Within Sphere by Arnaldo Pomodoro is one of the more famous designs in the gallery. There are other spheres he made in multiple locations all over the world. From afar, it looks like a golden orb with cracks, but as you come closer, you can see that the cracks reveal layers of other spheres inside. Like a Russian nesting doll. A world inside a world inside a world. A commentary perhaps on the introspective nature of humans themselves.

Sixteen Turning Sticks

Sixteen Turning Sticks by Takamichi Ito is a piece that relies on movement and encapsulates your attention. In a sea of silence, this one draws your eye in immediately. Inspired by a window display he created in 1960 when he was a designer, Ito said, “When I decorated the show window with a mobile that danced in the wind, many people stopped to look…People gathered in front of the window, both adults and children, genuinely enjoying the movements of the mobile. After that, I was invited to try and create works in the art world too, and after participating in an exhibition of outdoor sculptures and winning a prize, I became active not only in design but also in the pure art world.”

Never-Ending Dialogue

High in the sky spins a bright vermillion-coloured abstracted bird. This is Never-Ending Dialogue by Susumu Shingu. Shing u’s sculptures are kinetic works of geometry which move with the wind and transform from simple shapes into a moving performances.

Balzac

Balzac by Auguste Rodin is one of the last figures to see before making your way to the exit. Rodin is one of the most astounding sculptors of his generation, or any generation. Balzac was created as a memorial to the French novelist Honoré Balzac. When the statue was first unveiled, people were horrified. It not only looked nothing like the writer but had a ghastly expression. Rodin didn’t want it to be a faithful representation of the man himself, so many others had already done that. He wanted it to express the writer’s persona and the deep and sometimes.

Gift Shop

When you are ready to leave, head towards the exit, heading up another escalator leading to the gift shop. There are many cute gifts reflecting many artists and objects seen inside, but to me, there is something far more interesting opposite the Gift Shop.

Japan does love their Gachapon machines. If you’ve never seen or heard of one, Gachapon is a capsule toy machine dispensing random items from a given set. They all cost different amounts, and you’ll often find unique ones in places like this. Here you have 12 machines, each dedicated to art history. Some dispense buttons with images of the various artworks from the museum on them, and others have a famous painting on coasters or even tiny pieces of framed art! My kind of souvenir and something you’d never find outside of Japan!

I will be the first to admit that modern art has never been my favourite thing. But here, in this incredibly serene and astonishing environment, the works of art took on a new life. I was better able to appreciate their beauty and understand the stories they were telling. They seemed to speak to me here, under the cherry blossoms and among the tree. Don’t miss it on your next visit to Hakone!

The post Ultimate Guide to the Hakone Open Air Museum [UPDATED 2023] first appeared on The Creative Adventurer.