My favorite day trip from Tokyo was the day we spent in Hakone, a town known for its onsen, boiling sulphur springs, and views of Mount Fuji. The JR Pass covers transport as far as Odawara, where you’ll have to change to private railways. We opted for the Hakone Free Pass, which is on the pricy side, especially for a day trip—it’s valid for unlimited rides over two days, which is how you can get the full value. The advantage was not a financial one in our case, but just so we wouldn’t have to stop and buy tickets at every stop; I’ve never used this many different modes of transport in a single day, and doubt I’ll ever beat this record: with the Tokyo metro, it was seven different ones!
When we visited, a recent typhoon had damaged part of the train tracks, and replacement buses were running instead. The “Hakone loop” usually begins by taking the train to Gora (a change at Hakone-Yumoto may be necessary), then the “cable car” (it’s actually a funicular) to Sounzan, followed by the ropeway (with a visit to Owakudani on the way), the sightseeing cruise across the lake to the shrine, the bus back, before changing to the train again. Because of the disruptions, and because I wanted to get a good picture by the popular torii gate on Lake Ashi before it got too crowded, we decided to do the route backwards, which worked out even better in our case, since we had enough time left to close out the day with a visit to the Hakone Open Air Museum near Gora.
Map from japan-rail-pass.com
We got an early start from Tokyo, getting into Hakone around 8AM. A seemingly endless bus ride later, we got off near the shrine—the main buildings are hidden in the dense forest, but huge torii gates show the way to it, but we went down to the shore to the very photogenic torii standing in the lake first. Since most people visit Hakone as a day trip, the area gets busy after 9-10AM, and we made it just in time to have it to ourselves, before a small line started forming (it looked huge once we passed the floating gate on the boat a little later)! If you’re set on getting such a picture yourself, but, like me, feel silly standing in line for a photo op (and get self-conscious when a whole crowd watches you pose!), I’d recommend getting here early and doing the route backwards, as we did.
We then followed the lantern-flanked path and stairs to the main building. By this point on our trip I’d already reached a bit of a shrine-saturation, and I didn’t think this one particularly impressive, although it did feel very peaceful because of how well it was set into the surrounding forest, and I loved this particular chōzubachi, the water-filled basin worshippers use to purify themselves before approaching the main shrine.
After visiting the shrine, we decided to walk along the lake to the further dock to catch some views of Fuji this way. The day before, I’d learned the hard way that it likes to hide, especially in the afternoon, but it was probably around 10AM at this point, and the sky was completely clear, with no clouds covering snow-capped Fuji-san. We hiked up a hill which gave us quite nice views across lake Ashi, before getting on the weirdly out-of-place pirate-themed sightseeing cruise at the Hakone Machi-ko dock. From here, it doubles back to Motohakone-ko (the dock closest to the shrine) before heading across lake Ashi, so we got some nice views of the torii gate from the water.
I was mostly disappointed by the sightseeing cruise—Fuji is hidden behind other mountains for a good stretch of the way, so the views of it are better from the shore than from the busy boat deck. Instead, it was the ropeway which turned out to be a pleasant surprise! It was the beginning of November, so a little too early for peak autumn foliage, but we still got to see some colors, as well as a panoramic view that stretched from Fuji to the crater lake. Doing the loop in reverse also had the added benefit that the crowds were moving the other way, so while the direction to get to the lake was very busy with waiting times at the station, we moved along quickly, had the ropeway gondola to ourselves, and I could easily move around inside to take pictures in every direction.
You are forced to switch ropeway at the Ōwakudani station—in normal circumstances, this is actually one of Hakone’s main attractions, but when we visited, the area wasn’t accessible due to dangerous volcanic activity affecting the air quality, so we were not allowed outside the station. Ōwakudani translates to “Great Boiling Valley”, and was created by an eruption of the Hakone volcano some 3000 years ago. The valley is riddled with still active sulphur vents and hot springs, and the fumes stink of old farts, something we could smell without even stepping outside! Normally, a short walking trail would lead into the volcanic zone, where you can buy eggs hard-boiled in the hot springs. The sulfur blackens the shells, and legend has it that eating such an egg will prolong your life by seven years. I like my eggs scrambled, so the view from the ropeway, which passes right over the valley, was enough for me, and I don’t feel like I missed out on too much.
There’s nothing to do in Sounzan except switch to the funicular, and we must’ve arrived at a slower time a little after noon, because we waited for a really long time for one to arrive. We got off some stops before reaching the bottom of the valley, and visited a little landscape park on a whim, because it was mentioned in a brochure we got at the station (it was pretty disappointing, given the time of year), before walking to the Hakone Open Air Museum (the first one in Japan). Our Hakone Free Passes gave us a discount on the admission price, and from what I’d read about it, I expected an experience similar to the one I had at Arte Sella, where contemporary art blends and harmonizes with nature, but it didn’t come close, and I almost wish we’d saved the money. Still, we wouldn’t have known what to do in Tokyo if we’d gotten back so early, so it’s fine—but I wouldn’t visit again, or even really recommend it, unless you’re into sculptures.
Despite its name, there are indoor sections as well, although one of the buildings was closed when we visited. We were given a map, which was a good thing: It’s not huge, but the trails around it are set up in such a way that you have to double back sometimes if you want to see all the artworks displayed outside. They were mostly sculptures that didn’t interest me much, structures which looked fun to explore but were meant to be climbed on by children only, and a whole building dedicated to Picasso’s atrocious attempts at pottery, but amid it all, there were some artworks I really enjoyed, too. One of them is an 18m tall tower covered by colorful stained glass, which you could ascend via a spiral staircase. Gabriel Loire’s Symphonic Sculpture didn’t look like much from the outside, but the light play on the glass once you stepped in was absolutely stunning. My favorite piece, however, was a morbid sculpture featuring a tangle of naked bodies and bones, but I unfortunately remember neither title nor artist.
A little ways behind the tower, there were free foot baths to be enjoyed, and actually, this was our favorite part of the museum. It hadn’t been a strenuous walking day, but I was wearing heels, and the hot spring water felt wonderful on our tired feet. It was a warm enough day to air-dry afterwards, but small towels can be bought from a vending machine for just 100 yen. Near the entrance, there was another artwork I really enjoyed, La Pleureuse (the mourner), a big stone head lying in a pool of water, with bright leaves for hair.
Despite the museum visit being a let-down and the Ōwakudani valley being inaccessible, I still feel like we got our money’s worth, and I can confidently say that this is one Japanese destination I have no need or particular desire to revisit in the future; it was lovely, but for once, I felt like we’d seen and done everything the area had to offer, so we crossed this one off the bucket list!
watercolorstain 