Three different perspectives make Sengokuhara an appealing place to explore: Venetian glass, botanical diversity, and a collection of 500 Rakan statues. You don’t have to start by working through a long list of attractions. First, consider what you’d like to take a closer look at: glass as a museum theme, plants along a garden path with distinct sections, or statues in a temple’s bamboo grove. These highlights give your trip planning a specific cultural and scenic framework.

Glass: two museums with distinct focuses

The Hakone Glass Forest Museum in Hakone-Sengokuhara specializes in Venetian glass. The Hakone-Lalique Museum in Sengokuhara houses an Orient Express carriage with more than 150 glass panels in its interior. Both museums put glass at the center, but in different ways: at the first, it is the clearly defined museum theme; at the second, a particular carriage draws attention to the design of an interior. If you choose cultural attractions based on a specific interest, you can distinguish between Venetian glass and the carriage with its many glass panels.

Plants across two ranges

The paths at the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands in Sengokuhara are designed to let visitors view plants ranging from lowland to alpine areas, and from early-stage to developed wetlands. The garden contains 200 wetland plant species and 1,100 plant species from lowland to alpine areas. The paths connect this diversity with two lines of comparison: elevation zones and stages of wetland development. The species counts indicate the garden’s scope, while the paths offer another way to explore the distinct sections of plant life. Here, the focus is less on a single exhibit than on the breadth of the plant world.

A garden overlooking Ōwakudani

The garden at the Hakone Glass Forest Museum also brings together natural and cultural themes. It overlooks Ōwakudani and combines seasonal flowers with crystal glass that sparkles in the sunlight. This means the museum can be appreciated for more than its specialization in Venetian glass: in the garden, flowers, crystal glass, and the view come together. Unlike the carriage at the Hakone-Lalique Museum, the emphasis here is on a garden view; compared with the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, the focus is shaped by the combination of seasonal flowers and crystal glass.

500 Rakan in a bamboo grove

The bamboo grove at Chōanji Temple in Sengokuhara is home to 500 Rakan statues. Their number makes this a collection rather than a single statue, while the bamboo grove places it in a clearly identified part of the temple. The cultural focus thus shifts from glass objects and plant ranges to a group of statues. If you’re weighing different cultural themes for your trip, this combination of number and location offers a distinctive point of comparison.

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