Give yourself a treat: Follow in the footsteps of famous writers and artists such as the painter Yokoyama Taikan and the writers Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata (author of ¡°The Izu Dancer¡°). To do so, just hop on a train to the old seaside resort of Atami on the Izu Peninsula just south of Tokyo.
There are a number of attractions to this small town of 40,000. You might want to stay a few nights at a traditional inn and enjoy the natural hot springs, brought to you by eons-old volcanic formations. But two places of particular interest are the garden and buildings of Kiunkaku, and the MOA Museum of Art.
Kiunkaku was built in 1919 as a bessou (country villa) by shipping magnate Shinya Uchida, who later sold it to Kaichiro Nezu, owner of railroads and benefactor of the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts in Tokyo¡¯s Shibuya district. Between the two of them, they produced a fine garden enclosed on four sides by an eclectic set of buildings that hark back to the Edo Period (1603-1867), with accents of Western-style buildings that reflect the tastes of the wealthy in an earlier era. In 1947, the property was converted into a ryokan (Japanese inn). Since 2000 it has been maintained as a cultural asset by the city of Atami and is open to the public.
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