James Went to Hakone, Japan

After the chaos, the noise, the lights, the intensity of Tokyo – it was time to go for a chill out in Hakone.

You can do Hakone in a day tip from Tokyo, but we thought it would be nice to spend more time than that in the Japanese countryside.

Hakone is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, and yes that means that we were close to Mount Fuji.

What a stunning mountain.

We got the curiously-named Romancecar from the maze of Shinjuku to Hakone – not a Shinkansen train but impressive in that after the passengers get off at Shinjuku, the seats all turn around to face forwards.

From Hakone, it was up into the mountains (somewhat) on this little old train that goes forwards up the hill, then reverses up the next section, then goes forwards up the next section – confusing at first but clever.

Things To Do In Hakone

There isn’t an amazing amount of things to do in Hakone, but it suited us just fine after the chaos of Tokyo and some lingering jet lag – and there was enough for two days.

Firstly the Hakone Open-Air Museum was a delight to wander around and look at the varying sculptures.

They also had a whole pavilion dedicated to Picasso, for some reason. Though I’m over-Picassoed.

Then the other main thing to is get the cable cars.

Hakone Ropeway Sounzan Station will take you first to Owakudani, which is an active volcano with sulphur deposits and gas coming out.

It was fairly inactive whilst we were there, but there was re-assuring guidance:

Where you could buy black eggs – which are boiled in the sulphur springs until the shells turn black – local legend says each one you eat adds seven years to your life, which either means we’re all immortal by the time we leave Owakudani, or the vendors are having a laugh. I went for the Mount Fuji Kit-Kats instead:

And there was more typical Japanese randomness with a poodle show:

Why? Who knows.

And another view of Mount Fuji, of course.

To The Lake

From there you can get the cable cars down to Lake Ashinoko.

At which point you can join hundreds of other tourists on the pirate ship. Ahoy, or whatever they say in Japanese.

Then there wasn’t much else to do other than wander around the gardens/wooded areas, visit another temple (or at least the grounds) and find somewhere for a beer.

Oh and question why people are queuing two hours for a photograph next to the lake.

Oh and find many more different views of Mount Fuji.

Eating And Drinking In Hakone

Most places close at 8pm in Hakone – Tokyo this wasn’t, and this was very purposeful.

Twice we had food from a truck, once from Gorichan Foodtruck on the other side of the lake, and a burger – wagyu burger, of course.

And then we met the cutest Japanese guy in a caravan called Café Ryusenkei, next to the open air museum, selling ham and cheese sandwiches for something like £3.00.

Photo stolen from Google:

And the only sit-down meal we had was at Circle Hakone, a Nepalese restaurant with a pretty good butter chicken and a huge naan – though the naan was very light so it wasn’t as much food as it sounds like.

For drinks – Gora Brewery is the one for craft beer fans, “beer bar” closes at 8pm, but has the most gorgeous 9% NEIPA which was very well deserved after a day of art.

And they have a second place which is kind of more poncey wannabe Michelin restaurant but “oh crap we sell beer too”.

And that was that for Hakone.

Probably worth mentioning that we stayed in an Airbnb – it was right on the edge of Hakone and required a taxi, and of course on the morning of leaving no taxi had any interest in getting there. So if you are planning on doing this, try to stay in one a bit closer to Gora perhaps. Though it was stunning, and so spacious – surrounded by trees (and replete with the odd bug or two…countryside yo). Oh and they were lovely – one of us left our jacket there, and they posted it back to the UK. Typical stunning loveliness by Japanese.

Two days and two nights away from the big cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka – two fairly chilled days, countryside, trees, art, mountains, Mount Fuji, occasional 9% gorgeous NEIPAs.

Then time for…

Kyoto next.