The beautiful Enoura Observatory

Do you know what it takes to get 4 mamas together for a day trip from Tokyo?

It takes roughly three months of planning, several modifications to the programme, a coordination of wishes, realities and last minute weather weirdness, three Japanese speakers, four flexible women, about 1’000 text messages and a train ticket.

During the many reiterations of our plan, we were climbing Mt Fuji, overnighting at Fuji-san’s base, stand-up-paddling boarding, going to dinner, going to breakfast, driving, training, site seeing, culture-tripping…. throughout the ideas galore, we never once waivered on the most important, core element of the weekend. We were going together. Punkt.

In the end, our plan was to visit the Odawara Art Foundation’s Enoura Observatory and then have a bubbly lunch in Kamakura.

Half of the time we were here, I was secretly fantasizing that this was my home and my gorgeous garden. Not bad!

It was a very serene morning at the Observatory. Only a certain number of visitors are allowed to walk thru at a time, making for a peaceful and calm experience.

For me, the blues and greens of the nature, mixed with the breeze and sunshine make for one of the most beautiful art exhibits I have seen.

The views onto the sea make you, if only for a moment, reflect on a simpler, less complicated world.

The Enoura Observatory was opened to the public in late 2017

It was opened in Odawara, at the site of contemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Odawara Art Foundation.

The art foundation, simplistically, exists to observe the interactions between nature and humans. This is very evident at the Observatory.

The views onto the sea stretch from the Boso Peninsula to Oshima Island and allow guests to dream just a little. The concept of the Observatory is just that - to stop for a minute and think about the world, about art and to create clarity and purpose.

There are an abundance of citrus trees on the grounds.

Children under 12 are not allowed to visit the Observatory… there are plenty of reasons why, I am sure…but I would have had a very different experience if my three were running up and down this dangling plank!

In just over an hour, you can jaunt from the centre of Tokyo to Odawara

From the train station, the observatory offers a free shuttle - make sure to book your ticket with shuttle service! And, if you visit from 1 October 2018 you will also be able to see a bamboo forest and the “Fossil Cave”.

The walk thru the Observatory is both inside and outdoors. The staff even provided umbrellas when it began raining.

I like art. I enjoy museums. But, I always like it in small doses.

If I am completely honest, I really enjoyed the fact that we saw the whole the Enoura Observatory in under two hours! This was just perfect for me. I love the experience of seeing new expressions of art, but I am not someone who can browse for hours and hours.