Museums in Shizuoka That You Did Not Know Existed

On a very fine spring day in 2019 our friends Hiyoshi and Naomi drove us in their BMW to visit the Susono area, and stayed at the Honda housing facility, or retreat, in Susono that is available to current and former employees of Honda like Hiyoshi.  

There, we visited a few museums and parks, and even got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji.  A glimpse is all we got because it was cloudy that week.

I had never heard of Susono, a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, at that time. The area on the outskirts of Susono is hilly with lush woods and streams.  

The first place we visited was Clematis no Oka (クレマチスの丘), which is an art and nature complex that includes several museums, gardens, and restaurants. Clematis no Oka includes the following museums:

• Bernard Buffet Museum: Contains the world's largest collection of the French painter's works, including oil paintings, watercolors, and sculptures.
• Nagaizumi-cho Inoue Yasushi Literature Museum: Focuses on the life and work of the acclaimed Japanese author, Yasushi Inoue, who grew up in the region.
• IZU PHOTO MUSEUM: Features revolving exhibitions of vintage and modern photography. 

The fourth museum within Clematis no Oka is the Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, which is in my opinion the most interesting of the lot. Giuliano Vangi (1931–2024) was a celebrated Italian sculptor, known for his modern, figurative works.

As you walk the gardens of Clematis no Oka, which incidentally were beautiful, with spring flowers blooming everywhere, you will come across the gardens that are part of the outdoor exhibition of Vangi sculptures. Unfortunately, the Vangi gardens and museum are permanently closed due to lack of funding. I believe it was the only museum in the world that was dedicated to Vangi's works of art. As you view the pictures I have included below you'll see why I thought the museum closing was a great loss.

Note that the other museums that are mentioned above are open, as well as the restaurants and cafes that are part of Clematis no Oka. So I do recommend a trip here despite the Vangi museum closing. It's a beautiful area; a great place to unwind after touring all the tourist-filled spots in the big cities.

Ok, onward, we did check out the Bernard Buffet Museum, and then took a drive across town to the Mishima Skywalk on the east side of Susono.  The Skywalk is a bridge over a wooded cavern that leads to, well, nowhere in particular.  On the other side there are other sponsored activities that you can take advantage of, but we chose to just do the walk.  We fully expected to get a view of Mt. Fuji from there, but it was still cloudy so no luck.

We made it back to the Honda company retreat at dusk, and got lucky - we were able to catch a silhouette of Mt. Fuji! 

In any case, the whole area is definitely something to consider visiting if you are tired of the same old big city tourist traps. There are bus tours that come out here, and of course, you can always rent a car and take your chances!  Good luck!