Today we head to the most popular attraction in the area. Hakone is a quaint town built in the base of Mt. Hakone. Getting there via public transit was awesome. The area has a very unique public transit system that includes the Hakone Tozan Railway, the Hakone Tozan Cable Car, the Hakone Ropeway (gondola), the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise, and various buses. The railway was very unique in the sense that it takes you up the side of a mountain from Odawara to Hakone. Because it takes you up the side of a mountain the train is about half the length of a normal train and sometimes has to go through switchbacks where the conductor would get out, switch sides of the train and continue operating the train from the opposite end. With the constant switchbacks it was a long, scenic ride up the mountain and as usual, Lex fell asleep.

*click an image to view larger version

Our first stop off this magnificent train line was Chokokunomori Station where we would go see the Hakone Open Air Museum. An art museum which was mostly full of sculptures and even a Picasso museum. The museum was beautiful and we definitely spent more time here than we anticipated for the limited amount of time we had today to explore Hakone. I would anticipate spending at least two to three hours here and plan accordingly. While at the museum we even stopped and enjoyed the foot Onsen that was on site. This was a welcome rest spot since the temperatures outside were down in the 30’s F. Just having our feet dipped in the Onsen was enough to warm up our bodies. As we were leaving the museum, it began to hail so we ran back to the train station and waited for the train so we could continue our journey around Hakone.

Following our stop at the museum we took the train to Gora Station, this was the end of the line where we discovered the Cable Car was currently undergoing maintenance. This forced us to travel by foot up a very steep hill to Hakone Gora Park. Which is a French style park with a fountain in the middle and had flowers everywhere you look. There was also a cafe at the park as well as activities such as glass blowing and pottery making. We continued our walk up the hill through this park and caught a bus (since the cable car was down) to the ropeway station.

Normally, you don’t think of a ropeway gondola as a form of public transportation but it was a beautiful way to explore the area by air. It offered a great view over the sulphur pits of Owakudani on its way to Togendai Station which was on the northern shore of Lake Ashino-ko. Once we arrived on the lake, it was time to grab a quick snack (we’ve become addicted to Soba Bread which is Yakisoba noodles in a soft bun) and line up for the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise. The Hakone Sightseeing Cruise was aboard a pirate-like sail ship that took us across the lake from the north side to the southern town of Motohakone. We started the cruise inside the ship to stay out of the rain, but ultimately decided we needed to experience the incredible views offered by this ship. We went outside to the top deck of the ship and were faced with incredibly cold rain, but we conquered through it anyway just to take it all in.

Motohakone is where the famous Hakone-jinja Shrine was located. This Shinto shrine was the first of our trip and definitely did not disappoint with its beautiful red Torii Gate standing lakeside making for spectacular photos. After climbing dozens of stairs to get to the temple we purified ourselves at the chozuya before going into the temple to pay our respects and purchase an Ema to leave our hopes and wishes with the temple.

Steps to praying in a Shinto Shrine:

1. As you approach the front of the shrine, bow deeply

2. Make your monetary offering to the deity

3. Ring the bell once

4. Bow twice, clap twice, then pray

5. Bow once more then back away

After spending time at the temple and paying our respects we went back down the hill to get to the Torii gate we saw from the ship. It was very humbling being on the inside of the giant gates with a beautiful view of lake Ashi in the background. There were lines of people waiting around to take their photo, so by the time we got to the front it was pretty dark. When we were done snapping our pictures, we made our way back to the boat landing we first started at and found a bus to take us back to a train station so that we could head back to the hotel.

Something worth mentioning regarding all the various modes of transportation in Hakone is that you can get an amazing pass which allows you to utilize each mode with one ticket. The Hakone Freepass lets you get on and off all the different vehicles in the Hakone area for one price (4600¥ approx. $45 at the time of this post). This is the price for a two day pass from Odawara Station and it is also good for discounts in various places within the Hakone area. I highly recommend this pass even if you are just in Hakone for one day like we were.

We made it back to the hotel after an exhausting day of traveling through Hakone, and went straight to our favorite Japanese activity. A relaxing evening in the Onsen to bathe the day away. What would you have done differently to make the most of your day in Hakone? Let us know in the comments below!

As always, thanks for reading!