The Hakone Open-Air Museum (彫刻の森美術館) in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, is holding "atmos" by light artist Kyota Takahashi (髙橋匡太) from Saturday, November 28, 2026 to Monday, January 11, 2027 (a national holiday).
Takahashi has created light works for 30 years. For this exhibition, he returns to the origin of light as a material and unveils a new series, "atmos."
The works are shown at the plaza in front of the Forest Footbath (森の足湯前広場), at Gabriel Loire's "Symphonic Sculpture" (幸せをよぶシンフォニー彫刻), and at the café. As the sun begins to set and the forest gradually takes on its night face, light paints a new landscape in each of these places. The lingering glow of the sunset, light and sculpture, and the air that surrounds the forest all resonate with one another, and for about one hour from dusk until closing, the museum takes on a beauty different from its daytime look.
This winter, the exhibition offers a new, special viewing experience that can be seen only for a short time each day. In the light that changes from moment to moment, visitors are likely to find scenes they can encounter only at that instant.
Exhibition Highlights
For this exhibition, Takahashi created a new series of light works called "atmos" and is showing it for the first time. After 30 years of making light works since his debut, he went back to the beginning and worked with light as a material.
The exhibition takes place at three locations: the plaza in front of the Forest Footbath, the Symphonic Sculpture, and the café.
The Plaza in Front of the Forest Footbath
The centerpiece of the exhibition is the work installed in the plaza.
Lighting poles fitted with lighting fixtures and the color plate "atmos" are set around the edge of a circular concrete surface 5 meters in diameter. The light passing through the color plate "atmos" is projected onto the concrete surface. Light passing through the multicolored plates is softly refracted, forming abstract images of light on the concrete in which colors seem to blend together. As the color plate "atmos" moves slowly, the light also gently shifts its image, as if drifting.
Image of "atmos"
People can see the world because of visible light, which is part of sunlight. Colors arise when visible light is reflected, refracted and diffracted by water vapor and other elements in the atmosphere. The beautiful colors of rainbows and sunsets are created by the atmosphere.
The setup in which artificial light passes through the color plate "atmos" and is projected onto the concrete surface is modeled on the way sunlight passes through the atmosphere and reaches the ground. The work "atmos" was created with inspiration from the way light exists in the environment of the sun, the atmosphere and the earth.
Symphonic Sculpture
Takahashi also lights up the Symphonic Sculpture, which stands directly in front of the light work "atmos," to coincide with the exhibition.
Light is projected from inside the sculpture toward the outside, so visitors can enjoy the glow of the stained glass from the outside of the work.
The light of the sculpture rising toward the sky and the light of "atmos" spreading across the ground create a vertical and horizontal contrast in the space, and the whole plaza is expected to become a unified space.
《Glow with Night Garden Project in Hakone》 Gabriel Loire, "Symphonic Sculpture" (幸せをよぶシンフォニー彫刻). Hakone Night Museum (2019)
Café
A wall piece, "atmos," is displayed in the café.
Colored light passing through the color plate "atmos" is projected across the whole wall of the café and becomes a painting of light. While relaxing in the café, visitors are gradually enveloped by the light that slowly appears from dusk.
The exhibition aims to create time to quietly appreciate the museum's grounds and the work in the lingering glow of the setting sun.
About the Artist
Kyota Takahashi (髙橋匡太), artist
Born in Kyoto in 1970 and based in Kyoto. Completed the sculpture major of the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Kyoto City University of Arts in 1995.
Takahashi works widely in Japan and overseas on public projections, installations and performances using light and video. His lighting projects on buildings, including Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, the lighting for the 100th anniversary of Tokyo Station and Towada Art Center, create dynamic, sculptural works of light. He has also carried out many large-scale participatory art projects made together with many people, such as "Yume no Tane" (夢のたね), "Hikari no Mi" (ひかりの実) and "Hikari no Hanabatake" (ひかりの花畑).
He has received numerous awards, including the Kirin Contemporary Award '95 Best Work Award (キリンコンテンポラリーアワード'95 最優秀作品賞) and the Good Design Award 2005 (Environmental Design category).
Photo: Mito Murakami (all photos)
Exhibition Details
- Title: atmos
- Artist: Kyota Takahashi (髙橋匡太)
- Dates: Saturday, November 28, 2026 to Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday)
- Venue: The Hakone Open-Air Museum (plaza in front of the Forest Footbath, Gabriel Loire's "Symphonic Sculpture," and The Hakone Open-Air Museum Café)
- Museum hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (last entry 30 minutes before closing)
- Viewing hours: Around 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Organizer: 公益財団法人彫刻の森芸術文化財団
- Cooperation: Color Kinetics Japan Inc. (カラーキネティクス・ジャパン株式会社)
- Production cooperation: 白石晃一
- Fee: Museum admission fee (see below)
Venue Information
- Address: 1121 Ninotaira, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa 250-0493
- Access by train: 2-minute walk from Chokoku-no-Mori Station on the Hakone Tozan Railway
- Access by car: About 25 minutes from Hakone-guchi IC on the Seisho Bypass (via Tomei Expressway Atsugi IC and the Odawara-Atsugi Road), or about 40 minutes from Tomei Expressway Gotemba IC
- Admission: Adults ¥2,000, university and high school students ¥1,600, junior high and elementary school students ¥800, preschool children free
- Closed: Open year-round with no closing days, including the New Year holidays
- Website: https://www.hakone-oam.or.jp
Web ticket discounts, group discounts and discounts for people with disabilities are available. Students are asked to show proof of student status.
