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Must-See Art and Cultural Hotspots in Japan

Museums

OKADA MUSEUM OF ART

The Okada Museum of Art

The Okada Museum of Art opened in October 2013 at Kowakidani in Hakone. This spacious museum has on constant display approximately 450 Japanese and other East Asian works of art and archeological artifacts.
The main collections are early-modern and recent Japanese paintings and ceramics from East Asia (China, Korea and Japan), in addition the Museum holds many fine and rare pieces covering an exceedingly broad range of periods and fields including such archaeological relics as Jomon pottery, clay figurines, and haniwa (clay figures), Buddhist sacred statues and paintings, and lacquerware or glass works.
The Museum was founded to carefully preserve for the next generations those art pieces that have been handed down in Japan and share the joy and pleasure of encounters with beautiful artifacts that lift the spirit. The mission of the Museum is to bring Japanese and Asian cultures to the world, and broadly contribute to the creation of culture.
The Museum consists of 5 levels with an impressive exhibition space of around 5,000 ㎡. After touring the galleries, visitors can enjoy footbaths at the front of the building or strolling in the gardens designed with an emphasis on harmony with nature.
From this mountainous land of Hakone, the Okada Museum of Art welcomes you to an enlightening and joyous experience of art and culture.

About the Okada Museum of Art

Exhibition Room
Restaurant “Kaikatei”

The Okada Museum of Art displays approximately 450 artworks, visitors can go around the spacious museum where their heart takes them and enjoy with experiencing the “histories of beauty” in Japan and other Asian countries.
LCD touch screens have been placed in front of some artworks to provide information on them (Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean) so that viewers can have an even more enjoyable experience.

Exhibition Room
Restaurant “Kaikatei”

Main works

A second-story reception room of a large restaurant in Fukagawa, Edo’s premier geisha quarters, is shown here peopled with the local geisha, known as tatsumi geisha, and women preparing a meal, while a child and a cat add to the lively scene. The trees in the inner courtyard are white with snow. Utamaro presents a rich variety of genre scenes, from the people looking out at the snow to those gathered around the braziers escaping the cold to those immersed in a hand gesture game and another devoted to applying her makeup.
Unlicensed pleasure quarters were located in Fukagawa, and this district prospered so much that it rivaled the Yoshiwara. The Fukagawa courtesans were known for their chic appearance in subdued color palette kimono and accessories. This work is thought to date from the Kyōwa 2–Bunka 3 (1802–06) during from Kitagawa Utamaro’s final period.

Kitagawa Utamaro, Fukagawa in the Snow, Edo period, ca.1802-06, Okada Museum of Art

Maple leaves in red, yellow, green and white swing by the wind. The openwork between the leaves acts as holes penetrating the sunlight from the dense overlapping changing maple leaves. By the river drawn inside, it can be seen that the theme of this work is the Tatsuta River (Tatsutagawa, Nara Prefecture), a famous place for autumn leaves that has been loved by Japanese people since ancient times. The balance between the shape of the bowl, the decoration and the openwork are harmoniously blended and recreate the scenery in the autumn mountains alive with maple leaves of different colors. This is a charming masterpiece of Kyoto potter Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743), capturing the beauty of the autumn mountains at their peak of the maple leaves.

Ogata Kenzan, Bowl with Tatsutagawa Autumn Foliage and Stream Design in Openwork, Edo period, 18th century, Okada Museum of Art