Hakone - May 2024

Hakone Station. Sony RX100V.

We made our way from Yokohama to Hakone via Odawara. When I was researching and planning for this trip, I thought Hakone sounded really neat! It indeed was a very pretty town with breathtaking nature views. Unfortunately, it was absolutely overran with tourists. It was ironic that the day after we left Hakone I saw an article on Straits Times on how Hakone is struggling with over-tourism.

It’s a good reminder to be an ethical and mindful tourist when we visit these wonderful places. This Guardian article is a good summary on this. I think it’s good to stay in the towns we visit and spend our money on local businesses instead of being day tourists that tax the local infrastructures without giving much back. Speaking of staying in town, we stayed at Guesthouse Azito, a charming cafe-slash-lodging that’s around 10 minute hike from the station (it’s indeed an uphill hike, so get ready)!

Our room was on the 3rd floor. It was a clean, comfortable room, and all we could ask for. Sony RX100V.

There was a fish shop beside our lodging. Sony RX100V.

The ‘traditional’ way to see Hakone is by taking the train, the cable car, the ropeway, and the ship. There are also buses that run the course of the town, and if you are incredibly fit and love hills, Hakone (or at least the Sengokuhara area) would be an absolute blast to cycle at! Don’t forget to grab the Hakone Free Pass which is an amazing deal as it allows you to access almost all these transports (except for certain type of buses) for free during your stay. We got ours at

The Hakone Tozan Railway is a ‘slow’ train that winds its way up the mountain, and a couple of times the train would reach a dead-end before reversing onto the next set of tracks. The ride had magnificent view and would plunge the viewer into a Ghibli-like dream. Afterwards, we transferred to the Cable Car, which is like a tram pulled up the mountain with cable, before we took the Ropeway (what we usually understand as a cable car, ie free floating carriage suspended in mid-air) to Owakudani, which is an active volcanic zone that smells like farts because of all the sulphur. Make sure to look out of the window to get a glimpse of Mt Fuji during the Ropeway ride!

Fuji-san in the backdrop of the ropeway. Sony RX100V.

Owakudani is famous for their black eggs (kurotamago), which are eggs boiled in the hot sulphuric volcanic water. I thought we would actually watch the eggs cooked and harvested from the volcano, but the gift shop simply sells them in packs. There is also ‘egg’ ice-cream sold in one of the shops, which was an interesting flavour—I would venture it was custard-y! There is also a Geomuseum here for the intellectually curious.

Owakudani was absolutely packed with tourists. There was only one restaurant that had vegetarian option, and the queue was insane. We therefore had ice cream and black eggs for lunch, as well ask French Fries (‘fried potato’) from one of the other shops.

We continued down the ropeway to reach Lake Ashinoko. We get to the other side of the lake aboard a ‘pirate ship’. The lake was so beautiful—the surface was so blue and calm. I wish we could have paddled around the lake!

The pirate ship cruising on Lake Ashinoko's pristine blue waters.

There is a couple of cool things to see around the lake. Walking to Hakone-jinja (Hakone Shrine) from where we disembarked the ‘pirate ship’ took us through the Old Tokaido Highway. The Tokaido Highway was the route to and from Tokyo and Kyoto during the old days, and this short stretch is a small preserved part of that. We would explore more parts of the Old Tokaido Highway when we hike the Nakasendo at Nakatsugawa the next few days.

Old Tokaido Highway. Sony RX100V.

Shops near the Hakone-jinja. Sony RX100V.

By the time we reached the Hakone-jinja, the sun was setting. Google Maps says the shrine is closed at 5PM, but walking around the grounds doesn’t require purchasing of any ticket. As always when visiting shrines and temples, we try to be respectful, mindful of the fact that these sites are holy and important to the local people.

The golden sun rays filtering through the leaves. Sony RX100V.

Walking around the shrine. Sony RX100V.

There is a Torii gate just in front of the Hakone-jinja that was absolutely swamped with people. There was a long queue for people to take selfies under it.

Selfie-takers under the Torii. Sony RX100V.

Life hack is to hire one of the many swan boats in the area and pedal close to the Tori to take a photo of it.

There were also rowing boats for rent, which I wanted to take if not for the fact that it was getting very chilly and we were very hungry. Sony RX100V.

The beautiful golden hour painted everything exquisitely (all taken with Sony RX100V):

Unfortunately it took us too long to get back to our lodging (the bus we waited for was too full and we had to wait for the next one—by this time, the sun was gone and the weather had turned pretty chilly!), and so we didn’t have the opportunity to visit any of the famed onsen in Hakone. The next morning, we popped by Tamadare Falls that was behind Tenseien Onsen and hotel. The water of Tamadare falls is thought to extend your life span.

Hien Falls. My attempt to take a photo of Tamadare Falls that was just beside it was a big fail unfortunately. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

There are many ducks on site near the waterfalls. Most of them are caged in the pond area, but some are free roaming. You can purchase feed for the ducks and the koi fish. Sony RX100V.

We also read about how the water in Hakone is so fresh and sweet, and was so delicious for the weary travellers making their way in the precarious mountains.

Was also obsessed with the flowers growing out of the rocky cliff faces and the concrete. Sony RX100V.

You go little flower. Sony RX100V.

We made a quick stop at Odawara castle while we transited at Odawara—the castle is just 5-10 minutes walk from the station. There is a Ninja museum here too—this castle used to be a Hojo clan stronghold, and they were famous for the Fuma clan ninja. The Ninja museum looked like it had fun obstacle courses—but unfortunately for children only.

Obligatory castle shot. Sony RX100V.

There is a pretty garden on what used to be the moat of the castle. Sony RX100V.

The bridge over the moat leading to the castle keep. Sony RX100V.

After a brief layover at Nagoya, we made our way to Nakatsugawa on the Limited Express Wide View Shihano. I wanted to put our trip to Nakatsugawa in this post as well, but I didn’t expect our one day in Hakone to yield a post of this length!

At Nagoya station. Sony RX100V.