the little prince museum
° Ise Peninsula ° Hakone National Park ° Kyoto
° Nara ° Narita ° Tokyo ° The Trains
Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park
An area of volcanic mountain ranges, lakes, hot springs and beaches 100km southwest of Tokyo. Hakone was part of the old Tokaido Trail, which lead from Tokyo through Hakone to Kyoto. On clear days, Hakone provides superb views of Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest and most revered mountain, which has been featured in countless paintings and prints and has been praised by Japanese poets throughout the ages.
Hakone is an area of high mountains with Lake Ashi nestling in the middle and Mount Fuji to the northwest forming a magnificent backdrop.
We stayed in a ryokan in Hakone, took the bus up to Lake Ashi, and amused ourselves by taking a pirate ship (yes, a pirate ship) across the lake to a village preserved as an old way station along the Tokaido Road. The way station is basically an outdoors museum, affording a glimpse of life in feudal Japan.
'The Little Prince Museum, Hakone
The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, was published in 1943, and has been translated into more than 140 languages.
de Saint-Exupery
grew up and lived in the castle of Saint-Maurice-de-Remens, and participated in the war both as an aviator and as an author.
Upon entering this museum, you are transported into France, early 1900's. The alleyways and gardens are lovely and the small chapel there is a reproduction of one neighboring the castle that Saint-Exupery grew up in.
Inside the buildings are the museum, photos and letters tell the story of Saint-Exupery's life, with re-creations of rooms he worked in, city streets in Paris.
Almost everything is in Japanese, but it is still interesting, especially if you are a fan of the book.
The small theater (decorated as a desert), documents the story of The Little Prince and the life of its author. It is only in Japanese.
The
'Restaurant Le Petit Prince is excellent; eEnjoy casual French style cooking from Monsieur Okabe, who defeated Iron Chef Sakai in a lamb battle on the Japanese TV program Iron Chef. The menu includes fresh organic vegetables 
purchased from contracted farmers, pork and chicken raised in the vicinity of Hakone, and fresh fish shipped direct from Odawara's fishing port.
Indoors there is seating for about 70, outside there is a garden side terrace with 40 seats, and there is also a parking lot side terrace with 44 seats.
The musuem was completely funded by a Japanese businessman who loves the story of The Little Prince.
Within walking distance from the Little Prince Museum is the Samurai Museum, a little-visited, extremely well done display of fine artifacts from Japan's noble samurai warriors. The two particularly knowledgeable and friendly Japanese ojii-san (not to be confused with Ouji-sama) answered questions and showed us around the Museum. After looking at extravagant helmets, 3-man swords, my daughter complimented a poster on display for one of the nearby castles. She asked if they knew where she could obtain a copy. The museum caretakers pulled the poster out of the case and presented it to her!
We also found a fine Italian Restaurant owned by a local Japanese businessman. Our inn keepers were able to give us an idea of where it was, we walked over, and found it more than worth the time it took to find it. As chance has it, we ran into the owner of the restaurant —he lives in a Western-style house down the hill— the one with the yellow Ferrari parked in front. He told us that during a trip to Italy some years ago, he found the food excellent and thought he would try opening an Italian restaurant in Tokyo. It was an instant success, so he also opened his little restaurant in Hakone.
Getting there: From Tokyo, you can get to Hakone by bus or train. Take the JR Tokaido Line (Shinkansen/42 minutes or Local/90 minutes) or the Odakyu (Romance Car/85 minutes or Express/95 minutes) line from Shinjuku station. The bus runs from Shinjuku Bus terminal. The museum is open from 9am to 5pm (7pm in the summer).
Reading departure signs in some big airport