Trip to Odawara & Hakone (5) - Okada Museum of Art (Part 2)

Since we skipped the 2nd floor in the morning, we went there directly after lunch. We found a large collection of Japanese ceramics. Many of the items were from Kyushu. Some plates looked very modern, for example, with combination of vivid yellow and blue colors. Aritayaki in Saga Prefecture in Kyushu is the oldest Japanese porcelain. It was first made by a Korean potter Yi Sam-pyeong. He was one of the thousands of potters taken from Korea when Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea at the end of the 16th century. Aritayaki is also called Imariyaki. It was exported to Europe and loved by royalty and nobility in the old days. In the museum, we could see some variations of this porcelain.

On the 4th floor, we could see Japanese paintings during the Edo Period. There we could see a replica of “Snow of Fukagawa” by Kitagawa Utamaro. The original painting is the largest ukiyoe that has ever existed (198.9 cm x 341.1 cm) and owned by this museum. The size of replica was 90% of it, but it was still the largest ukiyoe I have ever seen.

Then, we went to a small exhibition room of Buddhist art on the 5th floor. It was the last room we visited in the museum, but we had still one important picture to see. We took the elevator to the first floor and went outside. In front of the museum, they have a row of footbaths. With the ticket of the museum, youcan use it free of charge.

With the ticket of the museum, you can use it free of charge.

From there, you can see a huge wall painting “Wind/Time.” It is based on the “Wind God

and Thunder God” screens by Tawaraya Sotatsu.

After the long walk in the museum, it was comfortable to sit for a while with my feet in hot water. In addition, this footbath area serves also as a café. You can place an order and pay the money to staff members who come and go. I had hot chocolate.

We left the museum a little over 15:00 and took a bus to Odawara. The bus rans very fast on mountain roads. After doing some shopping in Odawara Station, we took Shinkansen to Hamamatsu with my sister and arrived here around 18:00. In the train we ate sweets that my mother bought at a confectionary store Chimoto (ちもと) in Hakone-Yumoto. Each of them was wrapped with a bamboo skin. According to the label, this sweet is called Yumochi.

The inside looked like this. It contained small pieces of yokan or adzuki bean jelly. The white part looked like an ordinary rice cake; however, it was made from rice flour with egg white added, which make the sweet fluffy. It had also a flavor of yuzu, a citrus fruit. The sweet itself was delicious, but I also liked the old-style wrapping.

Hakone is a nice area rich in nature and culture. I highly recommend Okada Museum of Art to those who are interested in art in East Asia. Since it is a private museum, the admission fee is expensive (2800 yen for adults). But I think it’s worth visiting. Their website provide information in four languages: Japanese, English, Chinese (Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese) and Korean. Also in the museum, you can read explanations of major exhibits in these four languages.