Doing the Hakone Loop

For our last adventure in Japan, we visited the Hakone area, about 45 minutes from Tokyo. I wanted to escape from the chaos of the city so chose this area for its stunning scenery and quiet ambiance, and it was also recommended in all travel guides to do the Hakone Loop. The "Loop" involved travelling a circular route using 5 different modes of transport--bus, train, funicular, cable car, and...pirate ship. More on that later. Arriving from Kyoto, we checked into a rather institutional-looking hotel on the edge of a lake. We were tired and hungry and it was getting dark. I had read that the hotel restaurant was very overpriced (and this was confirmed from the menu -- $65 per person!!) and there were no other open restaurants in the area so had prepared accordingly with an instant noodle box meal each and some cherry tomatoes and fresh cucumber to accompany (total cost $6 each). After a bit of a walk to a 7-11 for some beer/wine, we enjoyed our budget meal in the comfort of our room.

The next day dawned bright and sunny and we began our exploration of the Hakone area. We walked next door from the hotel to "Hakone Checkpoint" Museum. The collection of historic buildings is a reproduction of a "checkpoint" station found throughout Japan during the Edo period (1603-1867). The main purpose of the Hakone checkpoint was to control the movement of weapons and people, and to stop the women and children of the feudal lords from leaving the Tokyo area. We had to surmise that women of these times were not "happy campers" and that it was commonplace for women to try to escape from the probably brutal conditions of their lot in life. The museum was well-organized, although all text was totally in Japanese. When we climbed the steps to the lookout station, we caught our first real view of Mt. Fuji!

You can just see the outline of Mt.Fuji in the distance...

We continued walking from the checkpoint along a path lined with huge cedar trees, to Hakone shrine (built around 757). From the iconic Torii gate standing in the lake out front, a path leads from the torii gate up a series of steps flanked by lanterns through the forest to the main building of the shrine, which sits peacefully among the tall trees. The whole scene was quite beautiful although we shared it with a number of tour bus groups. Later we caught the bus that follows the Old Tokaido highway towards Yumoto-Hakone. We made a brief stop at Amazaki Chayo along the way. Here there is a cafe that has been in operation for 300 years and had been reconstructed as a traditional tea house. It is well-known nowadays for its amazake (hot, sweet rice wine) and various Japanese-style snacks. We shared a cup of amazake(quite tasty) and some hot, gooey mochi (pounded rice) cakes that are grilled over coals and dusted with soy powder. Kevin also tried miso oden (simmered balls of konnyaku jelly with a sweet and salty miso paste) which surprisingly he did not like (he pretty well likes everything).

Very interesting stuff -- we weren't 100% sure what it was...

The next segment of the "Loop" was via historic train up the mountain to the town of Gora. The train itself was full (we had to stand) and very slow. We got off at one point to visit the Hakone Open Air Museum, which displays modern sculptures by international artists and also has a building dedicated to Picasso. We were quite surprised by how big and well-organized the museum was, and I was quite intrigued by some of the unusual work. In the middle of the grounds there was a free hot foot soak, so we definitely had to take advantage of that! However, we did have to hurry through the displays as we wanted to make sure we caught the last boat. After the train came a cable car or funicular pulling us further up the mountain. We passed a number of small towns along the 15 minute ride and we noticed that the locals use the funicular to commute and move about the area.

Finally we came to a gondola (called a ropeway) system that took us to the top, then down to the lake. At one point we could see what looked like either clouds or smoke in a crevice of the mountain--turned out it was volcanic steam venting and a sulphur mining operation. It was all very surreal. Finally we boarded the pirate ship and set sail (ok...motored) for the opposite end of the lake where our hotel was. Yes I know this sounds a bit hokey, but once you ignore the touristy aspect of standing on the deck of a bizarre-looking boat, this segment of the loop was scenic and quite pleasant.

yes, your eyes so not deceive you--its a Pirate Ship in Japan!

It took most of the day to do the Loop and it offered us some unique, interesting and beautiful sights. We're glad we spent the time here. So ends our Japanese adventure as the next evening we made our way to the airport and caught our flight home to Canada. Japan made a huge impression on us--and it was certainly a lifetime experience for Kevin. Many things did surprise, impress and perhaps disappoint us. As I am home now I have time to reflect and will share my impressions in one last post. Stay tuned...