Hakone Museum of Art (Moss Garden)

Set in Gora, this garden holds around 130 types of moss growing beneath some 200 Japanese maple trees, assembled by museum founder Okada Mokichi after World War II. He purchased a neglected prewar park on a lava-formed slope, rearranged the volcanic boulders to his liking, and sourced moss from across Japan, drawing on the moss gardens of Kyoto as his model. The result is a dense, quiet space with a quality that shifts by season and light. The Hakone Museum of Art and its garden opened in 1952. Autumn brings the maple canopy into vivid color above the green-carpeted ground.