Hakone Doll House Museum — Attraction in Hakone

Doll House Museum / Hakone -- No offense to the museum owners, but this place would be the ideal setting for a Stephen King horror movie. Remote location. Empty like the hotel in "The Shining". "Heeere's Johnny!" OK, Jack Nicholson wasn't here, but his absence didn't prevent this unexpected museum from being the most bizarre albeit the most amusingly unique stop on our Japanese vacation.

My husband and I were staying the night at the Kinokinuya Ryokan nearby, and we weren't aware we would be that far away from Lake Ashi and all the resort attractions of Hakone. The proprietress of the ryokan let us know rather unexpectedly that no dinner would be served that evening, so we were left to stroll the immediate neighborhood to forage.

That's when we saw the museum's head-scratching sign off the highway. At first, we hesitated entering because truth be told, we didn't have a burning passion to look at miniatures in reproduced vintage houses. But hell, what else did we have to do before enjoying the onsen that night? The scale of the museum was impressive as it consisted of an interconnected series of renovated greenhouses.

For an admission of ¥1,200, we entered quite an expansive world of miniatures that took museum director Yasuaki Niimi over twenty years to collect. They're 1/12 the size of real life, and room after room was filled with houses filled with incredibly meticulous detail. They're primarily not Japanese in origin as you might expect but rather more historically European with even Queen Elizabeth waving from an English cottage.

Non sequiturs abound with an electric train buzzing around a topiary in the tallest greenhouse and a massive miniature auto collection toward the end of the exhibit. I must admit that the most delightful find was the in-house eatery, the Cha Cha Cafe, where they provided a full menu. Alas, we didn't have to starve because of the ryokan, and we were happy to discover the food was quite satisfying.

Jamie had the ¥1,200 Indian Chicken Curry Lunch Set with rice and sautéed vegetables, while I ordered the same priced Hashed Beef drizzled with sour cream. We couldn't help but share a ¥450 slice of Homemade Apple Pie which gratefully came warm and a la mode. Little did we think we would have a full dinner before heading back to the ryokan. Welcome to the Doll House, baby!

FOOD - 4 stars...unexpected comfort food in an unexpected museum AMBIANCE - 4.5 stars...quite an investment has been made here SERVICE - 4.5 stars...a polite staff of three appears to take care of the entire facility TOTAL - 4 stars...it's on the local bus line, and they have a huge parking lot...so why...

A nice, relaxing place to visit, especially if you have children. The collection is modest (I've seen larger), but still sizable and comes with some interesting history (Vivien Greene, Beatrix Potter, Allegra Pott). There's a mini train ride (especially great if you have toddlers). Friendly staff (shout out to James). Gift shop, cafe, bathrooms on...

We were welcomed by a very enthusiastic caucasian man who spoke fantastic Japanese. The exhibits were amazing and one-of-a-kind. You may not be interested in dollhouses before you visit, but once u come by you will have a newfound appreciation...