MOA Museum of Art MOA美術館

Located on a hilltop and north of Atami is the MOA Museum of Art, which specializes in East Asian art—primarily Japanese and Chinese ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, calligraphy, paintings, and more. Some of the pieces date back over one thousand years, and there are National Treasures among the collection. One of them is Ogata Korin's masterpiece “Red and White Plum Blossoms,” painted on a pair of two-panel folding screens.

You can reach the museum by train, including the shinkansen, and then a bus or taxi.

The MOA Museum of Art is very close to Atami Station, a bullet-train stop. From there, you can take a bus bound for the museum and be there in seven minutes or take a taxi and get there in just five.

A complete Noh theater and the endless spiral of the Circular Hall inside nicely offset the museum's square, monolithic outer lines. The surroundings are lush and green, inviting you to stroll around, especially through MOA Museum of Art's tea garden.

Another highlight is Korin's Residence, a reconstructed townhouse built in the Sukiya style used for tea ceremony houses, based on a home the artist Ogata Korin owned in Kyoto in 1712.

If you want to make a deep cultural dive and enjoy some true serenity, the MOA Museum of Art should be one of your top picks. A visit here should take at least a couple of hours. A bonus is the commanding view of the sea from Moore Square.