Hakone Open Air Museum: is it worth your time in 2026?

Hakone is a place of such natural beauty that for a long time I was reluctant to spend my nice "Hakone time" wandering around an open-air museum - especially since my experiences of sculpture parks in the past had been a bit of a snooze-fest, if I'm being honest. Then, we visited Hakone with a Japanese friend, who planned the itinerary and had the Open-Air Museum as a headliner, and we were instantly so impressed that we decided there and then that we would have to bring the kids next time... and believe me, the word "museum" is enough to strike terror into their uncultured little hearts. So, read on for our honest opinion on whether the Hakone Open-Air Museum is worth investing a precious hour or two of your itinerary.

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What is the Hakone Open Air Museum?

The museum is centred around a permanent outdoor exhibition of sculptures by world-famous artists, both Japanese (including the currently mega-popular Yayoi Kusama) and non-Japanese. But rather than a series of very worthy but "classic" and same-y "Thinker"s and abstract bronzes, the Hakone Open-Air Museum has put together an eclectic collection of pieces for every taste that even kids will find interesting: colourful, whimsical, amusing statues, even aeolian and ever-changing kinetic sculptures that you could just stand and watch for ages. The exhibition is displayed over the museum's 70,000 square-metre site on beautifully maintained lawns. There are indoor exhibitions too, including the Picasso Pavilion, which is considered to have one of the best Picasso collections in Asia, for a bit of relief on hot or damp days. There's also a section with ponds that has another vibe altogether - like a secret forest with bamboo groves and little wooden paths and bridges - and feels like a little adventure for itself.

Why the Hakone Open Air Museum is great for kids

There's a strong interactive element in the Hakone Open Air Museum that kids of any age are sure to appreciate. The open setting with plenty of room to run around and blow off steam is in welcome contrast to Tokyo, for example, and the museum even has a couple of exhibits that consciously allow kids a hands-on experience. I'm thinking specifically here of the Woods of Net, which any adult would appreciate for the aesthetics anyway but which contains a huge knitted hammock that kids (up to the age of 12) can climb up, clamber through and swing from. There's also a little maze to explore, and our kids got a kick out of taking a break on the giant fried eggs! We also found the Bella Foresta all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant a great family lunch option: plenty of choice, unlimited soft drinks and fun trays with little compartments so that the different foods don't run into each other on the plate - super for fussy eaters.

Getting to the Hakone Open Air Museum and how much time to spend there

The Hakone Open-Air Museum is in the Gora area of Hakone and is easy to get to. From Gora Station, it's a 15-minute downhill (all but the last 50 metres of so) walk, or you can change at Gora Station to the Hakonetozan railway and ride one stop to Chokokunomori Station, from where it's a couple of minutes on foot to the museum. Coming from the Yumoto area, you can take the Hakonetozan line to Chokokunomori and walk the last few 100 metres.

You can also take an H, J or Z bus and get out at the Ninotaira-Iriguchi stop.

The museum's location makes it a natural stop on the classic Hakone loop sightseeing route, whether you do it clockwise or anti-clockwise. We have included it in our recommended one-day Hakone day trip itinerary.

The amount of time you spend here depends on how much time you have to spare, to be honest. The grounds are extensive, so you can easily spend an hour just wandering around the outdoor exhibits - and that doesn't include time you might want to take seeing the Picasso collection, going up the stained-glass Symphonic Sculpture tower, letting the kiddos play for a while, and possibly having lunch or a short break in one of the cafés. Art-lovers can easily while away an entire morning or afternoon here, but I'd say you should plan in a minimum of 90 minutes in any case.

Best time to visit the Hakone Open Air Museum

Let's be realistic here: you'll want to visit the museum on a dry day that's not super-scorching hot. You can escape the weather in the lovely cafés and restaurants for a while or spend a while in the indoor exhibitions but, as the name makes quite clear, the main event here is the outdoor space and I'm not sure you'll get your admission fee's worth running around in the rain. A word of warning, too: the popular kid's exhibit, Woods of Net, is even closed in wet weather. We have been at the museum in the summer and didn't suffer too badly from the heat, since the open mountain-side location affords a bit of a breeze. But be aware that there's little shade outside, so a hot, sunny August day could make all that walking around hard work.

Hakone Open Air Museum tickets and is it worth it?

Tickets for the Hakone Open-Air Museum are around 1800 yen for adults, 1400 yen for high-school kids and students, and 600 yen for kids in elementary or junior high school (i.e. between the ages of 6 and 16 approx.). If you're using the Hakone FreePass, you'll get a 100 yen discount on the adult ticket.

Is it worth the admission fee? It definitely is, if you can dedicate the time to it that it deserves. If your itinerary is too tightly packed to invest more than hour, it's probably best to leave it to next time, because you'll be too pushed to do the admission fee justice.

Having said that, we honestly think that adults, kids and art-lovers of all ages will really enjoy the Hakone Open-Air Museum, but just make sure to check on the weather first and choose a day that is conducive to spending lots of time outside.

Need more information for planning your trip to Hakone? Check out our other Hakone posts:

• Our hub post is your quick and easy intro guide to Hakone

• Wondering if you're going to need a car for Hakone? Our Hakone transportation guide sets out all of the public transport options and our Hakone FreePass FAQ has all the info you need about the Hakone discount ticket.

• With so much to see and do in Hakone, staying overnight is always a good idea but accommodation is very spread out. Our Hakone accommodation guide explains where the best spots to stay are.

• Just in case you're undecided: here's why we think a trip to Hakone is definitely worth it but why some visitors may want to save it for next time.

• Wondering when to visit Hakone? Our post on the best time to go to Hakone will help you decide.

• Only got one day to spare? Check out our one-day itinerary for a day trip to Hakone to Tokyo

• And don't miss our guide to the best things to see and do in Hakone, whatever the season.