9 Best Sights in Side Trips from Tokyo, Japan

Only a few minutes' walk from the Miyanoshita Station (directions are posted in English), this museum houses an astonishing collection of 19th- and 20th-century Western and Japanese sculpture, most of it on display in a spacious, handsome garden. There are works here by Rodin, Moore, Taro Okamoto, and Kotaro Takamura. One section of the garden is devoted to Emilio Greco. Inside are works by Picasso, Léger, and Manzo, among others.

A sister institution to the MOA Museum of Art in Atami, Hakone Museum of Art is at the second stop (Koen-kami) of the Hakone Tozan Cable Car. The museum, which consists of two buildings set in a beautiful Japanese garden, houses a modest collection of porcelain and ceramics from China, Korea, and Japan.

The museum, between Mt. Omuro and Lake Ippeki, houses works by Picasso, Dalí, Chagall, and Matisse, plus a number of woodblock prints. 

Located on the northern side of Lake Kawaguchi, this museum displays a superb collection of elaborately decorated kimono created by the late Itchiku Kubota. All the work is beautiful, but the standout is an unfinished piece called Symphony of Light, which combines several dozen kimono to depict a seasonally changing Mt. Fuji. It's all housed in a Gaudi-inspired facility that's worth a look in its own right. 

This museum was built in 1928 as a repository for many important objects belonging to area shrines and temples; many of these are designated Important Cultural Properties. Located along the east side of the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine precincts, the museum has an especially fine collection of devotional and portrait sculpture in wood from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods; the portrait pieces may be among the most expressive and interesting in all of classical Japanese art.

This museum houses the private collection of messianic religious leader Mokichi Okada (1882–1955), who founded a movement called the Sekai Kyusei Kyo (Religion for the Salvation of the World). He also acquired more than 3,000 works of art; some are from the Asuka period (6th and 7nth centuries). Among the collection are several particularly fine ukiyo-e (Edo-era woodblock prints) and ceramics. On a hill above the station and set in a garden full of old plum trees and azaleas, the museum also affords a sweeping view over Atami and the bay.

Just a few minutes' walk north of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, this museum houses a collection of Japanese oil paintings and watercolors, woodblock prints, and sculpture.

An unhurried visit to the precincts of Toshogu should definitely include this treasure house, as it contains a collection of antiquities from its various shrines and temples. From the west gate of Rinno-ji temple, turn left off Omotesando, just below the pagoda, onto the cedar-lined avenue to Futarasan-jinja. A minute's walk brings you to the museum, on the left.

Designed by Kenzo Tange and housed at Minato Mirai 21, this museum has 5,000 works in its permanent collection. You'll see paintings by both Western and Japanese artists, including Picasso, Dalí, Yoshitomo Nara, and Yokoyama Taikan.