Hakone Things to Do

Hakone is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Famous for hot springs, outdoor activities, natural beauty and the view of nearby Mt. Fuji, Hakone is one of the most popular destinations among Japanese and international tourists looking for a break from Tokyo.

This is the famed hot spring valley nestled in the highlands of Hakone region. Most of the hot spring water observed is piped to nearby resorts for their onsens.

The specialty here is purchasing hard boiled eggs cooked in the hot spring water. The shell become pitch black and sells for 500 yen for 6.

If you crave for Japanese food, there is a restaurant in a complex beside the cable car station.

For a country with so much development its amazing how much of the Islands are actually untouched. Hakone is only 45 minutes from Tokyo but its a world apart. When on the highway going towards Osaka you pass straight through the Hakone Mountains. These babies are thick and lush, like J-Los hind quarters.

This is a great place to visit. While there are no buildings or structures remaining, you can really get a feel for what the layout of the grounds of a castle were like. The rare and unique defenses and moat structures are superbly preserved. Even though my pictures do not show it well, the scenery from the castle grounds is incredible. You can clearly see the ocean and Mt. Fuji. I would recommend making a day trip here. Take the bus to the grounds from Mishima station and walk the Hakone Kyukaido back (about 10km).
History This castle was set up by Hojo Ujiyasu as a subsidiary to the main Hojo stronghold at Odawara. As relations between Hojo and Toyotomi Hideyoshi worsened, Hojo Ujimasa began to strengthen the fortifications of Yamanaka Castle around 1588. In 1590 before Hojo had completed the new fortifications Hideyoshi launched the full force of 40,000 troops against the meager 4,000 defenders of Yamanaka Castle. It is said that the castle fell in less than a half day and in only 2 hours by some accounts. This was the first assault by Hideyoshi on Odawara as he overthrew the Hojo to complete the unification of Japan.

The winds up at the volcano can be strong so make sure your hats and scarfs don;t fly away.

You can track up the volcano and see the gurgling streams with sulphuric contents. The waters are pumped into many onsens for that therapeutic onsen bath.

Try hard boiled eggs cooked in the volcano's water. The exterior is black in colour!

It's also a good place to get an aerial view of the mountain ranges.

The main point of interest in Hakone. You can take a ferry ride on Lake Ashi and stop at various villages.

For me, I was plying the lake to get a nice picture of Mt Fuji. In the early morning, the ferry wasn't plying because of thick fog and visibility was poor. If so, go take the gondola ride. Riding in the gondola with fog on all sides and nothing in view is reminiscent of being in "Twilight Zone".

By mid morning, the fog had cleared and voila, Mt Fuji stood right in front where I had been peering at the entire morning.

Visit the Little Prince museum in Hakone. In the museum, there are exhibits of Exupery memorabilia. The best part must be exhibits of Little Prince novels in different languages.

Also a good place to spend rainy afternoons.

The Hakone Tozan Train very nice and cozy but the problem is I could not see the majectic green mountain scenery as we travel because of the cloudy weather and a little bit of rain and all you can see is the smoke air from the hotsprings.
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There are so many tourist that I met that day inside the train.
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