Japan: A day trip to Hakone

April 12, 2019

Hakone is a small town in Kanagawa, a journey of around two hours from Tokyo by train. It has a population of only about 13,500 people.

Most of the town is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu volcanic park, and is volcanically active. It is set on the shores of Lake Ashi, and the views of Mt. Fuji are great on clear, sunny days.

I wanted to see Mt. Fuji - but that will have to remain on my infinite list of places that I want to see, since it was a very cloudy sky when I went.

I took the "Romance" train from Shinjuku to get to Hakone. You buy a free Hakone pass for around 5,146 Yen (~3,500 INR) that allows you a discounted ticket on the Romance car, and all transportation within the town of Hakone is free after that!

For the next segment from Hakone Yumoto to Gora station, we traveled in the mountain railway on the Hakone -Tozan line. For the first time, I was traveling in a low speed train that took some 49 minutes to ascend 6 kms. This train has the highest gradient of any train I have ever been in, ascending 1 meter for every 12.5 meters of travel. The gradient is so steep that the train has to stop and do three switchbacks along the way.

I had previously traveled on the Ooty Mettupalyam toy train that has a gradient of 1 in 25. This was twice as steep! And I really enjoyed not being in a bullet train in Japan, seeing the view outside.

These are all "Yosegi" items. Yosegi is the Japanese art of parquetry, where you glue different colored blocks of wood and then shave off thin wafers! So you have wafer thin sheets of different patterns of inlaid wood. If you are interested, search for Yosegi on Youtube for videos of how all these puzzles were made.

The cat beckoning with its hand (Maneki-neko) is found everywhere in Japan since centuries. It was popularized by Studio Ghibli (Japan's Walt Disney but far better) in award winning animation films that include Spirited Away, From Up on Poppy Hill, and some 30 odd masterpieces. I couldn't visit Studio Ghibli in Japan because the tickets had sold out three months before!

Outside the train station at Gora

This woman was selling hot steaming Anpan, that is sweet red bean paste stuffed into buns! It tasted awesome, and you can find the recipe online.

The cable car that takes you up from Gora up the mountain. Ticket price included in the Free (#*&^@!?) Hakone Pass.

I was about to get into the cable car at Gora to ascend the mountain, when I saw a poster for Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) museum! While Gora seemed out of the way for a French author's (Antoine De Saint Exubery) museum, I went because I was a fan of the book. Yaaaay for the Little Prince! You can see his silk scarf fluttering in the wind.

The Little Prince lives on an asteroid that is as small as a house.

The Little Prince fell in love with a Rose, but the Rose is haughty and hasn't returned his love.

Here's the proud Rose that the Little Prince fell in love with. Stiff back and a very formal beauty.

The Little Prince in color looks exactly like I remember him from my childhood 4 decades ago! He has not changed one bit, including his disheveled blonde hair.

And here's the airplane in which the narrator crashed in the desert and met the Little Prince. I spent some time just lost in a fantasy world, going through the museum.

We had to take the Hakone Ropeway after the cable car. The cost was covered under (you guessed it, grumble-grumble) the "Free" Hakone Pass.

Two friends relaxing in the cable car.

The Fiji Hakone Izu volcanic park a the top was filled with volcano fumes. What you see isn't fog, or mist, but volcanic gases leaking out. So you can have a bath in the Onsen and hot spring water if you have time. I didn't much care for sulphur dioxide smelling baths ever since I had the experience in Nubra valley - they are highly overrated and smelly.

Black eggs boiled in the volcanic gases and water. The shells turn black for some reason out in Hakone. And eating a black egg adds 10 years to your life, an interesting tale spread most probably by the seller. I ate 5, because I was hungry and that was the minimum pack size.

Souvenirs - they felt very Japanese to me.

More souvenirs - these little tiny dolls costed anywhere from Rs.1000 to Rs.4000. Touristy.

Volcanic gases filled the area till visibility was down to hardly a few feet.

Lake Ashi and a cruise ship, essentially a decked up ferry, that takes you across the lake in 20 minutes.

The 'cruise ship' that takes you across Lake Ashi. It's part of the FREE Hakone Pass that you bought.

I liked the way Japan Rail had decked out the ferry, including a barrelman looking out in the crow's nest.

And this was the ruddy captain of the pirate ship.

At Moto-Hakoneka across Lake Ashi

3D casts of the food on offer are usually put up at the entrance, showing prices, available and sold out items.

I took a bus back to Gora. I stopped at Amazake Chaya house on the way back. It is a really ancient teahouse that used to actually serve travelers way back in time, and still retains the atmosphere.

Amazake is a rice-wine that is totally unlike Sake. It is still made in Amazake Chaya teahouse. It tastes thick,creamy, and sweet, and you can barely make out the alcohol taste.