The Hakone Open-Air Museum hosts Pumpkin until 1 November
Published on 10/04/2026 at 04:34 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
The Hakone Open-Air Museum (Chokoku no Mori Museum) is presenting Yayoi Kusama's Pumpkin installation and a related interview video in Hakone until 1 November 2026. The programme gives visitors in Japan a final month to see the temporary presentation before its announced end date.
Yayoi Kusama's Pumpkin remains on view until 1 November
The museum's October 2026 programme lists the Pumpkin installation and interview video as a limited-period presentation running through 1 November 2026. The official listing places the programme within the museum's exhibition schedule and names the Hakone venue, making the closing date relevant to visits between 29 September and 3 November.
The work is linked to Yayoi Kusama, whose pumpkin motif is among the artist's recognised subjects. The programme is not a separate city event: it is presented as part of the museum's own exhibition information. The operator's October exhibition listing gives the period as 19 April to 1 November 2026.
The Pumpkin programme meets a sculpture garden shaped by nature
The museum opened in 1969 and is described by Japan's national tourism organisation as Japan's first outdoor gallery. Its grounds extend across about 70,000 square metres in the mountains of Hakone, where approximately 120 sculptures are displayed among views of the surrounding landscape.
That setting gives the Pumpkin presentation a particular context. Rather than placing the programme in a conventional enclosed gallery, the museum combines a time-limited Kusama display with an outdoor collection that includes works by modern and contemporary sculptors. The official English site also identifies the Picasso Pavilion, the stained-glass Symphonic Sculpture and a forest footbath among the grounds' named features.
The museum's scale affects how the programme is encountered: the temporary presentation belongs to a wider route through gardens, exhibition spaces and named installations. A visit before 1 November 2026 therefore combines a fixed exhibition deadline with permanent parts of the Hakone site, including the sculpture garden and the Picasso collection.
Hakone's outdoor museum links art with a rail route
The national tourism organisation gives the address as 1121 Ninotaira, Hakone-machi, in Kanagawa Prefecture. It identifies Chokoku-no-Mori Station on the Hakone Tozan Line as the rail stop for the museum, with train and bus connections available from Odawara and other Hakone access points.
The grounds are landscaped but not flat in the manner of a single indoor gallery. Visitors move between outdoor works, gardens and structures, so the terrain forms part of the experience of seeing the Pumpkin presentation. The site also includes the Symphonic Sculpture, a stained-glass tower that visitors can enter and climb to a viewing platform, subject to the museum's visitor arrangements.
Visiting The Hakone Open-Air Museum: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The Pumpkin installation and related interview video are listed at the museum until 1 November 2026, within the October programme.
- The presentation is part of the museum visit in Hakone, while the wider grounds contain permanent sculpture displays and named indoor pavilions.
- The address is 1121 Ninotaira, Hakone-machi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Chokoku-no-Mori Station on the Hakone Tozan Line is the named rail stop.
- The site covers about 70,000 square metres and combines gardens, outdoor sculptures, exhibition buildings and mountain views.
- Japanese is the official language and the national currency is the yen.
- 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.
The announced closing date is 1 November 2026, so the Pumpkin programme should be treated separately from the museum's permanent collection.
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Frequently asked questions about The Hakone Open-Air Museum
When does the Pumpkin installation take place at The Hakone Open-Air Museum?
The installation and related interview video are listed from 19 April to 1 November 2026. The final announced day is 1 November 2026.
What is The Hakone Open-Air Museum?
It is an outdoor sculpture museum in Hakone that opened in 1969. Its grounds cover about 70,000 square metres and contain approximately 120 outdoor works.
Where is The Hakone Open-Air Museum and how do you get there?
The museum is at 1121 Ninotaira, Hakone-machi, Kanagawa Prefecture. The named rail stop is Chokoku-no-Mori Station on the Hakone Tozan Line.
