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Hakone area’s sites offer beautiful sights
Story Number: nafatsugi040609-05
6/9/2004
By JOC(SW) James Junior
Mount Fuji is a Japanese icon that you can see from just about anywhere on NAF.
Getting a number of other majestic views of this wondrous mountain and many other historical Japanese sites takes just a few hours of travel.
The Hakone area, one such place, offers a splendorous way to get literally, and figuratively, a taste of old and new Japan.
One of the first areas seen after exiting the train in Hakone is a small mountainside train station reminiscent of an older Japanese-style station.
After a short walk up the street and a 30-minute bus ride, my family and I arrived at Hokonemachi, where we visited the ancient Hakone Checkpoint.
The Checkpoint was established in the fifth year of the Genna era, or 1619. The purpose of the checkpoint was to prevent daimyos, or regional ruling families, from plotting a rebellion. In order to accomplish this, the daimyo families were forced to live in Edo, now known as Tokyo.
Checkpoints were located all over the country to control the movement of guns and female members of a daimyo family. Hakone Checkpoint paid more attention to the movement of the female family members because during the time-period they were frequently spies and couriers.
At the checkpoint there is a museum containing about 1,000 exhibits such as historical checkpoint passes, records of illegal passage, road maps, weaponry and armor used during that time.
Just outside of the checkpoint is a prime place to view Mount Fuji as it peeks over the Hakone Mountains.
After exploring the checkpoint, we visited the Hakone Wild Grass Garden and the Hakone Ashinoko Museum of Fine Art. These offered beautiful nature scenes and old and new art.
Toward sunset, we again boarded a local bus and made our way to our hotel.
From the outside, it had a modern look, but the inside was styled in a very traditional Japanese manner.
Our room had a toilet, but in keeping with traditions, the bathing area was outside the room, behind the lobby. It looked like a large locker room with showers to wash off before going into the onsen, a hot spring-water filled bathtub for 40 people.
The beds in our room were futons and were stacked in the closest along with sheets, blankets and pillows.
A typical Japanese dinner with a variety of fish and rice and a Japanese breakfast buffet were included with the room, which cost Y8,500 ($77) per person.
After checking out the next morning, we proceeded back into town and took a boat tour of Lake Ashi.
There are four different styled boats used to tour the 19-kilometer (11.8 mile) shoreline. Three of the boats are styled after pirate ships from Sweden, France and England and the fourth boat was styled after a Mississippi Steamboat.
We chose one of the pirate ships, which, as the boat maneuvered around the lake, had a running commentary in Japanese and English, giving information about the sights and history of Hakone.
The boat made four stops to allow us to see those sights mentioned.
However, even without stopping, the lake tour constantly gave impressive views of Mount Fuji.
After going ashore, we boarded a cable car from the Togendai boat stop that went to Owakudani (Hell Valley).
Volcanic explosions before the time of Christ formed this barren mountain.
On the way up, once again there was an awe-inspiring view of Mount Fuji from the cable car. Past that, the steam rising from the ground all over the valley captured our attention.
Once off the cable car, the sulfur smell saturated the air and got more pungent as we walked the remaining 25 meters (27 yards) that brought us as far as we were allowed to go — 1,050 meters (3,444 feet) above sea level. The steam from the various fissures was a sight to see and occasionally, a fissure would let out a burst of steam that made a sound as if the earth was cracking wide open.
Here was a stand that sold eggs hard-boiled in onsen tamago (volcanic heated springs). Traditions say that eating these eggs will add seven years to one’s life.
After eating a couple of eggs, we headed back down to the Togendai station, where we again boarded a local bus toward the train station to head home.
I recommend getting a Hakone Freepass for about Y5,110 ($46.45), if departing from Machida. This is a one-price transportation ticket, which covers the cost of a round-trip train ticket on the Odakyu line to Hakone Yumoto.
This also covers all bus transportation while in Hakone, boat tours, the cable car to Hell Valley and when presented, brings discounts in many facilities. A Freepass can be purchased up to one month before departure from any station on the Odakyu line.
For magnificent sights, sites and an extraordinary learning experience about our host country, Hakone is a very reasonable place to go.
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