Okada Museum of Art Audio Guide

Okada Museum of Art: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Okada Museum of Art

   Welcome to the Okada Museum of Art, known in Japanese as Okada Bijutsukan, in the mountain resort of Hakone, in Kanagawa Prefecture. This guide stays with the big picture: what kind of museum this is, why it exists, and how it fits into Hakone. It does not walk you through individual galleries room by room. Hakone is an international tourist destination with as many as 20 hot spring clusters tucked among green mountains and clear rivers. Into that landscape came a privately owned museum that gathers art from antiquity to the modern era. It is a place built for slowing down, and the setting is part of the invitation. Over the next few minutes we will look at the founder's vision, the museum's scale and character, and the way Hakone became such a museum-rich corner of Japan. We will also cover how to get here, and a recent chapter in the collection's story.

2. 02

   A Founder's Vision at Okada Museum of Art

   The Okada Museum of Art opened in 2013 and was created by the Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada. It is a private museum that specializes in Asian art, and its collection reaches from antiquity to the modern era. The museum's own message about its purpose is warm and quite specific. The founder hopes that people living hurried lives in Japan, and visitors from abroad too, will come to Hakone and enjoy its sights. He hopes they will immerse themselves in the artworks with a relaxed heart and mind, and reflect again on the beautiful assets left to us by our ancestors. The aim is that they leave with their vitality restored for daily life. That is a gentle ambition for a museum. Think of it less as a checklist of masterpieces and more as a pause in the day, much like the hot spring baths that made Hakone famous. Art and rest are meant to work together here.

3. 03

   Scale and Character of Okada Museum of Art

   For a museum that opened only in 2013, the Okada Museum of Art has made itself felt quickly. It has the largest indoor exhibition space in Hakone, spread over five floors. In a town full of museums, that is a real distinction, and it means the visit unfolds as a vertical journey through the building. The collection is wide-ranging, with Asian art at its heart and works spanning from ancient times to the modern period. It also includes early modern and modern Japanese painting, which gives the museum a strong Japanese core within its broader Asian focus. Plan your time with some generosity. Five floors of art in a mountain setting reward a slow pace, and slowness is exactly what the founder hoped you would bring.

4. 04

   Why Hakone Is Full of Museums

   The Okada Museum of Art did not appear in a vacuum. Hakone has long been a popular resort for wealthy Japanese families and international visitors, and that bred a sophisticated cultural atmosphere. Collectors were drawn here, and many chose to build museums for their private collections, often in natural settings that make the art feel even more alive. The Okada Museum of Art is a relatively newer addition to that tradition, yet it has quickly become a major player. It also has a recent chapter that you may want to know about. On 22 November 2025, some major works from the collection were sold at Sotheby's in Hong Kong to satisfy a legal judgment against Okada. Among them was Hokusai's famous Great Wave off Kanagawa. Collections are living things, and what hangs on the walls can change over time.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   As you wander the Okada Museum of Art, try the founder's own test. Ask whether a work makes you feel more relaxed and more restored, as he hoped it would. It is a lovely way to look at art, and it fits Hakone's hot spring spirit. Also notice how the museum sits between two worlds: the long history of Asian art on its walls, and the green mountain resort just outside. Hakone has drawn collectors and travelers for generations, and you are stepping into that tradition. If the day leaves you curious, let Hakone's other museums and its hot spring clusters carry the story further. Each one is a different answer to the same question: how do we live well alongside beauty?