In today’s grim world of rampant materialism and consumerism, when so much of this natural splendour has been destroyed, it is the revival of these ancient Japanese traditions that we need most.

(Hiroshi Sugimoto)

About one and a half hours by regular train from Tokyo, a vast, sprawling land has been transformed into a magnificent open air museum space comprised of an art gallery, stone stage, optical glass stage, tunnel, teahouse, gardens, classical gates, pagodas, shrines, and grove of bamboo trees and other tree and flower varieties enough to spellbound anyone.The mastermind, multi-awardee Japanese contemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, envisioned Enoura Observatory, Odawara Art Foundation on the hills of Kataura district in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as an artistic and historical haven that echoes the substantial elements of traditional building methods and deep roots of Japanese culture from the Jomon period.

The location for this ambitious project ideally corresponds to the colourful past of Odawara, which was once a castle town during the Sengoku period (15th to 16th centuries). Many of the structures in the complex incorporate precious fragments of Japan’s ingrained heritage from those times. Traditional Japanese architecture, ancient stones, and other indigenous materials have been delicately reutilised into modern construction.

Sugimoto is internationally acclaimed for his profound indulgence in history, temporal existence, empiricism, and metaphysics adapted into photography, sculpture, installation, architecture, and performing arts. He has been awarded the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography in 2001, the 21st Praemium Imperiale in 2009, Medal with Purple Ribbon by the Japanese government in 2010, and conferred the Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (The Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government in 2013, among other recognitions. He founded the New Material Research Laboratory architectural design office in 2008 and the Odawara Art Foundation in 2009.

The elaborate planning of the Enoura Observatory took more than twenty laborious years to materialise until its final opening in 2017. Sugimoto philosophised that art today has lost its pristine purpose in contrast to the time when man articulated images from mental consciousness into cave paintings and objects in reverence to the sacred realm. Instead, modern expressions have been clouded by current media technology overkill and self-absorption. Retracing our roots to the source of human livelihood and instilling a wholistic awareness of our surroundings and universal space as our ancestors had carried through would be the means to evaluate the true meaning and intrinsic value of art and its mission. Enoura Observatory, therefore, strives to accomplish this wisdom in mind through a timeless experience of harmonising art and architecture with Japanese heritage, nature, and macrocosm.

One immediately steps into the landmarks of Japanese culture, starting with the prominent Meigetsu (Full Moon) Gate from Muromachi period (1336-1573) found to the right of the entrance pathway. The original gate was damaged during the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 but had undergone extensive restorations until its turnover to the Odawara Art Foundation. The Zen style has been adequately sustained, and the wall surface on both sides of the gate adopts the Japanese tokusabari technique of arranging vertical rows of half-lengthwise sliced bamboos without gaps and nails.

The reception building is itself a remarkable architectural display. All the walls are sheathed in glass, delivering an expansive panorama over Mt. Hakone. The appealing large, rectangular table at the centre is made from Yakusugi cedar aged over a thousand years, as proven by naturally formed mature rings and grains.

Facing the reception building is the Summer Solstice Light-Worship 100-Metre Gallery. Both a hundred metres in length and altitude above sea level, this long corridor structure is framed by a light, cantilevered roof, Oya stone wall on one side, and thirty-seven huge glass panels without column support on the other side. The exterior view from the window wall opens to an abstract stone garden of triangular Komatsu rocks. Sugimoto’s photographs, “Seascapes,” are hung on the interior wall. Towards the end of the gallery, one can grasp a majestic scenery of the entire estate, Sagami Bay, and Boso Peninsula and Oshima Island further ahead. The name Summer Solstice is attributed to the spectacular summer sun rays that rise from the sea and filter through the building.

The adventurous stroll around the property may require a sturdy pair of knees to fathom the numerous ascents on and descents from staircases. Adjacent to the gallery building, an impressive Circular Stone Stage is set with a central rock, used formerly as a huge lantern support in a feudal lord’s mansion. Beautifully paved stone slabs taken from a Kyoto tramway radiate outwards to the rim of benches quarried from the walls of the Edo Castle. The view of the mountainscape and forest trees is absolutely enthralling.

More stone installations scatter aesthetically throughout the grounds, including those from Horyu-ji Temple, Gango-ji Temple, and Kawara-dera Temple in Nara; a cornerstone from Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Kyoto; a tortoise stone; Asuka-period stone water basin; stone lanterns; and wells. The Floating Bridge of Nebukawa Stones beautifully arranged like sculptural art on moss serve as horizontal stepping stones approaching the Winter Solstice Light-Worship Tunnel.

A peek through a narrow passageway with a “Tree of Life” Marble Relief on its top reveals the captivating, rust-coloured Winter Solstice Light-Worship Tunnel/Light Well that casts sunlight on huge stones at the other end. One can walk slowly over this suspended seventy-metre steel tunnel until the edge and feel immense depth and energy. At the bottom garden, when viewed from underneath, it juts out bravely like a gigantic bird soaring towards the sky.

Next to the tunnel is the Optical Glass Stage and Amphitheatre Seating, with the bottom framework constructed in the Japanese traditional kakezukuri method (building floors on a hillside using secured pillars) with Hinoki cypress wood. The optical glass shines brilliantly from the winter morning sun and creates an illusion of the stage drifting on the sea.

Between the gallery building and the amphitheatre is the imposing Stone Stage, built from rocks dug up from nearby quarries and laid on a bed of typically Japanese-styled raked sands. Sugimoto had imagined the exact dimensions of a Noh Stage as a living representation of Japanese performing arts. When the Noh play commences before dawn, the actor seems to return to the underworld as the sun levitates behind the stage.

Not to be missed is the Mathematical Model 0010 installation in the bamboo forest. The cone-shaped sculptural piece sits on an optical glass podium that reflects the blue-greenish spectrum of the surrounding trees. The design is based on a mathematical hyperbola, with a strikingly long, slender tip measuring five millimeters wide. The tip appears to extend infinitely, though the vision exists only in the viewer's imagination.

Among other noteworthy structures are the Uchōten ("Listen-to-the-Rain") Teahouse and Kankitsuzan Kasuga Shrine. The teahouse style follows the historical Taian Teahouse designed by tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591). Ancestral woods were carefully selected, including a rusty, corrugated iron roof pulled from a local barn. When rain pours, the raindrops drum beats on the iron roof; hence, the name of the teahouse. Sugimoto again employs light technique that allows sunlight to seep through the exposed wattle windows and nijiriguchi (crawl-in entrance) door. The rays also bounce on the modern optical glass block at the entrance.

The Kankitsuzan Kasuga Shrine can be reached by ascending once more to the observatory viewpoint. An exact copy of the Kasugadō at Enjō-ji Temple in Nara, the red-orange shrine in distinguishing kasuga-zukuri style beams gallantly against the backdrop of the vast ocean.

Before exiting, a well-deserved pause at the wonderful Stone Age Cafe overlooking the horizon is most welcoming. Take a cool sip of the citrus drinks extracted from the property’s fruit trees. The stonework for the tables, stools, and ground all take inspiration from the building usage of stone as executed in Egyptian pyramids and Greek temples. A round sundial rests on the foreground, which unifies with the overall time-honoured architecture.

One full day is, perhaps, not sufficient to delve intensely into all the creative details of the curated landscape. Revisiting this resplendent site repeatedly certainly invokes a new sensation each time and stimulates a lasting, spiritual awareness that may not be experienced elsewhere.