Art Museums Along the Odakyu Line

Here you can enter the world of Fujiko F. Fujio, the famous cartoonist and also the creator of children's manga like "Doraemon" and "Perman.” The "F Theater" regularly shows short animation on a 200-inch screen, there’s a room displaying approximately 150 to 200 hand paintings, along with a museum shop, and a cafe. Some of the many themes Fujiko F. Fujio conveyed many themes through his manga, including dreams, hope, friendship, courage, curiosity, and compassion, among others.

NIHON MINKA-EN Japan Open-air Folk House Museum, which opened in 1967, is an open-air museum of old private houses and its aim is to preserve the rapidly disappearing old private houses for future generations. The park features 25 buildings, including representative private houses from eastern Japan, water mill houses, boatsheds, storehouses, kabuki stages, and more. All 25 have been designated as either national, prefectural, or municipal cultural properties, and, in addition to this, the museum has folklore materials related to these private houses, making it one of Japan's representative open-air museums of the sort.

This museum is located at the birthplace of Taro Okamoto, an artist who is known for works such as the "Tower of the Sun.” Visitors are greeted by the 30-meter-tall symbol, "Tower of the mother". The collection includes approximately 1,800 works, and the building features two exhibition rooms — one for permanent exhibitions and one for special exhibitions, and these exhibits are changed four times a year.

1st. floor gallery. Photo by Koji Okumura

he Setagaya Art Museum, which is located in Kinuta Park, has a collection featuring around 18,000 works. These works are mainly by modern and contemporary artists from both Japan and abroad, including those of Henri Rousseau. In addition, there is an extensive collection of work by Kitaoji Rosanjin, and the museum holds many workshops and other events on a regular basis.

Exterior view of the Setagaya Art Museum.

This is a corporate museum for Isuzu Motors, a Japanese automobile manufacturer that mainly produces commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses. Visitors get the chance to experience riding in the latest trucks and buses, which you usually don’t see up close and personal, along with seeing a miniature service car driving on its own.
The museum also features one of the largest diorama exhibits throughout Japan, plus a hands-on manufacturing experience. At the entrance, visitors of all ages can have fun learning about the history and technology of Isuzu Motors. The oldest domestic truck still in existence in Japan, the Wolseley, CP truck (1924), is also displayed at the entrance, so please come and check see for yourself.

Why not immerse yourself in a world of ukiyo-e that features Enoshima, the Fujisawa Inn on the Tokaido Road, and more. Ukiyo-e became a popular art form during the Edo period and greatly influenced Van Gogh, along with other European artists. Each exhibit is for a limited period of time, so there are always new paintings on awaiting you on display for your next visit.