One Day in Hakone

Welcome to Travel Tuesday! As per usual, I’m clearing up my endless queue of posts-I-should’ve-written-long ago. At least this one’s less than a year in waiting? If you’ve ever wanted to visit Hakone and have just one day to spend, hopefully this will be helpful to you!

One Day in Hakone, Japan

Hakone is a great little mountainous city to escape to if you’re trying to escape the hustle + bustle of Tokyo. Although you can get there via bus/cable cars/boats as well, the easiest way would be via the train. It’s probably most famous for (1) Mt. Fuji (which I would like to someday hike!!), and (2) onsen ( hot springs!).

Getting There

The Romance car is a limited express train that can get you from Tokyo to Hakone in about 1.5 hours. Depart from the Shinjuku station in Tokyo and you’ll be on your way! (If you’re traveling from Kyoto, there is a shinkansen (bullet train) that can get you there in a little over 2 hours.)

• There is a ¥1100 surcharge for the Romance car. Seat reservations are required! You can buy this online at the e-Romancecar site or via the Odakyu Line ticket machines.
• Cars 2, 5, and 8 have restrooms!

Take bus stop 2 for Hakone-Jinja-Iriguchi! You may want to think about getting the Hakone FreePass to get around Hakone. For ¥4000 (under $37), it’s a pretty good deal…if it works. (Full disclosure, I bought this and couldn’t get it to work for me because service was spotty. If I’d turned on my roaming data, this wouldn’t have been an issue at all, so if you have a free data plan for overseas travel, it is absolutely recommended.)

You can rent a pedalboat on Lake Ashi!

Places To Visit

Hakone-Jinja Shrine

Address: 80-1 Motohakone, Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0522
Bus Stop:  5-10 minute walk from the Moto-Hakone boat pier
Admission: Free!

The Hakone-Jinja shrine was erected in 757! Mount Komagatake is a stratovolcano that has been active since ~27,000 years ago — the stairs to the main hall of the shrine are built on a steep slope on the cliff at the edge of the lava flow. It’s one of the most famous shrines in the area because of the torii gate on Lake Ashi. (There was a ginormous line to take photos there so I didn’t bother standing in it, but you definitely can take some gorgeous pictures there!)

Onshi Hakone Park

Address: Kanagawa, Ashigarashimo, Hakone, Motohakone 171
Bus Stop: Hakone Tozan Bus (Onshi-koen-mae 153)
Admission: Free!

This park was used as a secondary residence for the Imperial Household, built back in 1886. It’s open from ~9-4:30/10-3:30, depending on the time of year.  Since I came here in December, I did in fact luck out and see Mt. Fuji from this park! (December/January are apparently the best times — otherwise it tends to be shrouded in mist!) It’s a pretty woodland walk — nothing strenuous and lots of places to stop at for a picnic or to take pictures.

Hakone Checkpoint

Address: Kanagawa, Ashigarashimo, Hakone, Hakone 1
Bus Stop: Hakone Tozan Bus Hakone Sekishoato (154)
Admission: ¥500/~$3.40 (adults), ¥250/~$1.70 (children)

This was originally an inspection facility during the Edo Period (1603-1868) and is the only checkpoint during this period that was restored to its original state. If you go to the top of the cabin they used for guarding the facility, you can get a great view of Lake Ashi + Mt. Fuji.

Old Tokaido Highway / Kyukaido Ishidatami

Address: Kanagawa, Ashigarashimo, Hakone, Hatajuku
Bus Stop: Hakone Tozan Bus Hakone Kyukaido-ishidatami
Admission: N/A (free)

This was an official road during the Edo period that connected Tokyo to Kyoto (Tokaido). The Hakone section of this highway is one of the best-preserved sections and is lined with a number of tall cedar trees.

Restaurant Bright

Address: 560-1 Hakone, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun 250-0521 Kanagawa Prefecture
Bus Stop: 

Not gonna lie — due to my lack-of-wifi problem, my original reason for stopping here was because of the free WiFi sign. After a look at the menu though, I was sold! Pond smelt is supposed to be a Hakone specialty, so I ordered that (¥1650/$11.20)! It was prepared in a fish + chips fashion and was quite tasty! There is an English menu available here and service was great!

Daimasa Honten

Address: 63 Hakone, 箱根町 Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0521, Japan

Shortly after I stopped at Restaurant Bright, I decided to walk down the hill and came across…Daimasa Honten. Second lunch? Second lunch. (It’s hard for me to say no to sashimi.)

For ¥1100/<$7.47 (+ tax), I got a generous bowl of maguro tekka-don (steamed rice + tuna sashimi) with free refills on miso soup + green tea. They play music from Studio Ghibli in the restaurant! :]

Chisuji Falls

Address: Kanagawa, Ashigarashimo, Hakone, Kowakudani 507
Bus Stop: Hakone Tozan Bus Kowakudani Station (OH55)

You’ll want to take the Hakone Tozan train bound from the Hakone Yumoto Station (OH51) to the Kowakudani Station (OH 55). This takes ~30 minutes and it’ll be another ~15-20 min walk from the station.

The falls are pretty, with a 20m width (+ only 3 m tall) – it’s close to a number of trailheads if you’d like to do/have time for more hiking!

Mount Sengen Trail

…When have I ever been known to turn down a hike? I decided to hike the Mount Sengen Trail from Chisuji Falls. This was a pretty trail to hike, but if you’re looking to actually summit something, it’ll definitely be a longer distance.

Distance: 2.5 miles (loop) – takes ~1-1.5 hrs
Difficulty: Easy-Moderate (depends which way you go)
Elevation: 567 feet
Trailhead Address: 35.271, 139.58506

Hakone Open-Air Museum

This museum is open year-round and has a number of outdoor and indoor exhibits, balancing art and nature. This was on my list but I didn’t manage to make it there due to my aforementioned Hakone FreePass issue.

Address: Kanagawa, Ashigarashimo, Hakone, Ninotaira 1121
Bus Station: Hakone Tozan Railway at Chokoku-no-Mori Station (OH56)
Admission: ¥1600/$15.

Hakone Yuryo

Address: Kanagawa, Ashigarashimo-gun, Hakonemachi, Tonosawa 4 (you can take the free shuttle from the subway to get here!)
Cost: ¥1600 usually; ¥1800 yen on weekends/holidays. (Bring your own towel to save ¥300!)

Hakone Yuryo is a traditional onsen (hot spring/bath) and Hakone is famous for em’! This is a great way to end the day after you’ve spent the day walking. You’ll be given a key to put away your shoes. (If you’re doing the public springs, you will need to be okay with nudity in front of others of the same gender. If you’re not okay with this, they have private open-air baths for ¥9400-14,400 per 2 hours.) Red for women, blue for men.

There are lots of shower stalls for you to rinse/wash off prior to going into the different pools. The pools have a variety of different temperatures — some fit lots of people; others fit only 1 person each. There’s one cold pool + 1 sauna available and there are benches to cool off as well.

You can try to find non-wet rocks to put your towel or you can also just plop it on your head (most popular choice). Please note that if you use it to cover up between soaks, it will be veryyy wet by the end (depending on how many you’ve gone into). Bring a plastic bag for wet items. You may want to bring a different outfit + skin/hair products as needed. (Each shower stall has shampoo/conditioner/body soap/face soap. The women’s side has face/body moisturizer, mirrors, hair dryers and sinks. I did not take photos for obvious reasons.

For the remainder of these, I didn’t end up getting to em’, but depending on what time you set out for the day (or if you decide not to take a hike), you’ll definitely have the time to go!

Returning to Tokyo

For the least expensive way to get back to Tokyo (1251 yen) , go back to Hakone-Yumoto station on the Hakonetozan line toward Odawara (OH 51 > 47), then switch to the Shinjuku direction (OH 47 > 1).

•  Have you ever been to an onsen?
• What do you usually like to do when you visit a new place?