Hakone Open-Air Museum hosts Kusama display until 1 November
Published on 10/21/2026 at 16:52 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSAutumn programme and museum context
- The museum presents a Yayoi Kusama installation and interview video through 1 November 2026.
- The 2026 autumn programme also includes exhibitions running from 3 October to 29 November.
- The open-air museum opened in Hakone in 1969 and was designed as a setting where sculpture and nature interact.
Hakone Open-Air Museum in Hakone, Japan, is showing a Yayoi Kusama installation and related interview video through 1 November 2026. The presentation is the current news for visitors planning an autumn trip to the sculpture museum.
Kusama installation and interview video run until 1 November
The museum lists the temporary Kusama presentation from 19 April to 1 November 2026. Its Japanese exhibition listing describes an installation of Pumpkin together with an interview video connected with the work. The final day, 1 November 2026, falls within the current travel period.
The listing is maintained by the museum and identifies the Hakone venue alongside the dates. The official 2026 exhibition listing also records a separate workshop as cancelled, so that workshop is not part of the visit information here.
A 1969 museum frames the autumn Kusama presentation
The museum opened on 1 August 1969 in Hakone, according to its history. Fujisankei Communications Group established it, while Nobutaka Shikanai served as founder and first director. Sculptor Bukichi Inoue designed the museum and its grounds.
The site lies in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and combines hills, streams and ponds with indoor and outdoor exhibition areas. That setting gives the Kusama presentation a specific context: visitors encounter the temporary installation within a museum created for sculpture in a natural landscape, rather than in a conventional urban gallery. The official museum history records the opening and the development of its exhibition spaces.
Hakone's 2026 autumn exhibition programme continues
The museum's published 2026 schedule places the Art labo project Inoue Ryo Exhibition and the Autumn Collection Exhibition from 3 October to 29 November. Both dates extend beyond the Kusama presentation's 1 November closing date, giving the autumn programme a longer run than the temporary related installation.
The schedule identifies the Art Hall as the setting for the indoor collection exhibitions. The museum's broader collection focuses on modern and contemporary sculpture, and its history records works by artists including Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore and Yayoi Kusama. These details connect the current Kusama display with the institution's longer exhibition history.
Visiting Hakone Open-Air Museum: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The Kusama installation and related interview video are listed at the museum from 19 April to 1 November 2026, with 1 November 2026 as the final listed day.
- The presentation is part of the museum's current exhibition programme; the published listing does not identify a changed entrance or a closure affecting this display.
- For the wider autumn programme, the Inoue Ryo Exhibition and Autumn Collection Exhibition run from 3 October to 29 November 2026.
- By rail, take the Odakyu Line from Odawara Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station, then the Hakone Tozan Railway to Chokoku-no-Mori Station. The museum is a two-minute walk from the station.
- The grounds are hilly and include streams and ponds, so the visit involves walking through an outdoor landscape as well as indoor galleries.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about Hakone Open-Air Museum
When does the Kusama installation take place at Hakone Open-Air Museum?
The installation and related interview video are listed from 19 April to 1 November 2026.
What is the Hakone Open-Air Museum?
It is a sculpture museum in Hakone that opened in 1969 and includes indoor and outdoor exhibition areas.
Where is Hakone Open-Air Museum and how do you get there?
It is in Hakone, Japan, a two-minute walk from Chokoku-no-Mori Station after the rail journey from Odawara via Hakone-Yumoto.
