kantokanagawa
Hakone
Hakone is a mountain onsen resort in the volcanic hills of Kanagawa, in the Kanto region, about ninety minutes from Tokyo, with views of Mount Fuji across Lake Ashi.
The torii of Hakone Shrine, Lake Ashi
- Prefecture
- Kanagawa
- Region
- Kanto
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
Steam in the valleys, a lake under the mountain, and some of the most beautiful ryokan in Japan.
Hakone lies within the caldera of an old volcano, a ring of wooded hills cradling a crater lake, steaming valleys and some seventeen onsen villages, each with its own springs. It is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, and on clear days Mount Fuji rises above the far shore of Lake Ashi, its summit some thirty kilometres away.
For centuries Hakone was the hardest stage of the Tokaido, the great road between Edo and Kyoto, and the Tokugawa shoguns kept a checkpoint here to watch everyone who passed. Travellers broke the journey in the onsen of Yumoto and Miyanoshita, and after 1868 foreign diplomats and the Japanese aristocracy built summer villas in its cool hills. Some of those villas are now ryokan, among them the summer villa of an imperial prince at Gora.
Hakone today combines that heritage with art. Few places of its size have so many museums of real quality: Picasso and Henry Moore in an open-air sculpture park, the French Impressionists in a beech forest, Asian ceramics and Japanese screens in a museum with its own open-air foot onsen. Between them run a mountain railway, a ropeway over a volcanic valley and the sightseeing boats of Lake Ashi, so a day can be spent moving gently from one to the next.
Above all, Hakone is a place to stay. Its ryokan are among the most accomplished in Japan, and the rhythm of a night in one is the heart of a stay: an afternoon arrival, a first soak in a private open-air onsen as the light goes, a kaiseki dinner of Sagami Bay fish and mountain vegetables served in the room, and the same water again in the morning, with the cedars dripping and mist lifting off the valley.
Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan
see and do
What to see in Hakone
Lake Ashi
The crater lake of Hakone, formed in the caldera some three thousand years ago, about seven kilometres long, with Mount Fuji rising beyond its northwest shore. Sightseeing boats cross between Togendai, Hakone-machi and Moto-Hakone.
Hakone Shrine
A shrine founded in the eighth century in the cedar forest on the lakeshore at Moto-Hakone, revered by samurai and shoguns alike, whose vermilion Torii of Peace stands in the water of the lake.
Owakudani
A volcanic valley of sulphur vents and steaming yellow earth at more than 1,000 metres, where eggs boiled in the springs turn black and are said to add seven years to the life of anyone who eats one.
The Hakone Ropeway
A cable car that crosses the hills from Sounzan over Owakudani to Togendai on Lake Ashi, with Mount Fuji in view on clear days.
The Hakone Open-Air Museum
Japan's first open-air museum, opened in 1969, with more than a hundred sculptures by Henry Moore, Rodin, Miro and others set across lawns in the hills, and a pavilion with several hundred works by Picasso.
Pola Museum of Art
A museum of glass and steel built into a beech forest at Sengokuhara, with a private collection that includes Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Picasso, as well as Japanese painting, glass and ceramics.
Okada Museum of Art
A large private museum of Japanese, Chinese and Korean art, from ceramics and lacquer to painted screens, with a garden of waterfalls in the woods and an open-air foot onsen beneath a great painted wall.
The Hakone Checkpoint and the Old Tokaido
A faithful reconstruction of the Tokugawa checkpoint of 1619 on the shore of Lake Ashi, and beside it an avenue of more than four hundred tall cedars planted along the old road in the seventeenth century.
The Hakone Tozan Railway
A mountain railway opened in 1919 that climbs from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora by a series of switchbacks, through steep woods of hydrangea and over ravines on slender iron bridges.
Hakone-Yumoto
The oldest of Hakone's onsen villages, at the foot of the hills where the Hayakawa and Sukumo rivers meet, with a street of shops selling yosegi marquetry boxes, fish cakes from Odawara and onsen manju.
Gora Park
A French-style formal garden of 1914 on a hillside at Gora, with fountains, rose beds, a tropical glasshouse and a teahouse where matcha is served.
Sengokuhara
A high plateau in the north of the caldera, with wide meadows of silver pampas grass on the slopes of Mount Daigatake, the Lalique Museum and several of the quietest ryokan in Hakone.
experiences
The best of Hakone
A night in an onsen ryokan
A suite with its own open-air onsen, kaiseki served in your room course by course, and the steam rising off the water into the cedars. Hakone has some of the most accomplished ryokan in Japan within easy reach of Tokyo.
A day among the museums
A private car from the Open-Air Museum to the Pola and the Okada, with lunch in between and time to sit in the gardens, a gentle way of spending a day in the hills.
Lake Ashi from the water
A cruise across Lake Ashi from Togendai to Moto-Hakone, with the torii of Hakone Shrine in the water and Mount Fuji above the far shore on a clear day.
Yosegi, the marquetry of Hakone
A visit to a workshop of yosegi-zaiku, the Hakone craft of fitting slivers of naturally coloured woods into geometric patterns, then shaving them into veneers for boxes, trays and the famous puzzle boxes that open only by a sequence of hidden moves.
The old road on foot
A level walk of half an hour along the cedar avenue of the old Tokaido by the lake, where the shoguns' processions once passed.
plan your visit
Hakone on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights is right for Hakone: a day to explore the museums, the lake and Owakudani, and two evenings to enjoy the ryokan itself.
- Getting there
- The Romancecar limited express runs from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto in about eighty-five minutes. The Tokaido Shinkansen reaches Odawara from Tokyo in about thirty-five minutes, and a private car climbs from there to the ryokan districts in thirty to forty. By car from central Tokyo, allow about ninety minutes.
- Pairs well with
- Hakone is the natural first stop west of Tokyo: it joins easily with the Fuji Five Lakes or the Izu Peninsula, and Odawara puts Kyoto two hours away by Shinkansen.TokyoMount FujiLake KawaguchikoIzu PeninsulaKamakuraKyoto
where to stay
Luxury hotels and ryokan in Hakone
The great ryokan of Hakone are spread through its onsen villages. Gora, high on the mountain, is the most celebrated, and there a ryokan occupies the former summer villa of an imperial prince, with suites that have their own open-air onsen and an indoor pool beneath a vaulted glass roof. Miyanoshita and Kowakudani keep the grand hotels of the Meiji era, and Sengokuhara, on the high plateau, has the quietest and most modern ryokan, many of them among the trees.
Elsewhere, intimate ryokan keep only a handful of suites, and the great hotel names have brought their polish to the hills, with onsen drawn from Hakone's springs. Lake Ashi itself has fewer places to stay, and most guests visit it by day.
Whichever village you choose, the arrangement that matters is the same: a room or suite with its own onsen, so the water is there whenever you want it, and dinner served in the privacy of the room. Many of Hakone's ryokan are small, with a dozen or twenty rooms, and they are best enjoyed for two nights rather than one.
journeys
Hakone on a private journey
We bring guests to Hakone on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Hakone: questions answered
How many days do you need in Hakone?
Two nights is ideal, which gives a full day for Lake Ashi, Owakudani and the museums and time to enjoy the ryokan. One night is possible, but the ryokan is half the reason to come.
How do you get from Tokyo to Hakone?
By the Romancecar from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto in about eighty-five minutes, or by Shinkansen to Odawara in about thirty-five minutes and then by car. On our journeys a private car makes the whole journey door to door in about ninety minutes.
Can you see Mount Fuji from Hakone?
Yes, on clear days, from the shore of Lake Ashi, from the Hakone Ropeway and from Owakudani. Fuji is often hidden in cloud, so Hakone is best enjoyed for its own sake, with the mountain as a gift when it appears.
What is the best ryokan area in Hakone?
Gora, for the most celebrated ryokan and easy access to the museums, and Sengokuhara for quiet and modern design. Hakone-Yumoto, at the foot of the hills, is the most convenient for the train but busier.
Is Hakone worth an overnight stay?
Yes. A night in an onsen ryokan, with kaiseki and a private open-air onsen, is the heart of Hakone; as a day trip from Tokyo it shows only the sights.
What is there to do in Hakone?
Cross Lake Ashi by boat, visit Hakone Shrine, ride the ropeway over Owakudani, spend a day among the Open-Air, Pola and Okada museums, and above all enjoy a night in an onsen ryokan.
What is Owakudani known for?
Its volcanic vents and steaming sulphur springs, and the black eggs boiled in them, said to add seven years to your life.
Can Hakone be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Hakone included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
kanto
More in Kanto
Hakone, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Hakone, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.