Hakone 箱根 - Tokyo 東京
31st October to 3rd November
The thing about not doing too much research ahead of time on the places that you are going to visit is that there of lots of surprises. These surprises can be fantastic and there is nothing quite like the joy and pleasure of experiencing something new without any preconceptions. Sometimes though it’s a bit shit.
The journey from our lovely hotel in Sendai to the national park of Hakone was our longest of our trip to Japan. It started with the same Shinkansen train that we had arrived in but this time we trailed all of the way back to Tokyo in around an hour and a half. We were in green class so things were very comfortable (green is one up from standard but not quite the best. We’ve peeked through the window of first and it looks luxurious and any travellers emerging from the carriages have looked incredibly smart). We had to transfer to the southern link at Tokyo and had a pleasant half hour on the platform watching the fast trains flash by on the middle rails whilst waiting for the stopping train to come in. They are quite mesmerising and incredibly frequent and all pretty much full.
The next change point was Odawara about half an hour south of Tokyo. This is as close as the super quick rail stops to the Hakone park area with the options for moving closer either being a taxi or a small, private and mainly single track railway, to the head of the cable car run at Gora. We were pleased to know that we were being picked up in a pre booked Uber and spent to next hour weaving around hairpin bends on mountain roads.
Having left at 9.30 it was now around 2.00 in the afternoon and whilst we had been comfortable throughout, we were exhausted and with the threat of rain in the air all we wanted to do is to get into our new room then into the on site onsen.
When we were booking this trip rwelve months out, our briefing about hotels to Inside Japan had, we felt, been very clear. We had said that we were happy to pay some extra money for quality and comfort, we said specifically about Hakone that we saw it as the relaxing treat at the end of our trip to Japan.
So after an hour of driving we arrived at the Mikawaya Ryokan a traditional Japanese inn dating back to 1883. Looks quite nice in the photo if a little swamped by trees.
Sadly, the reality did not meet the hype. The sizzle was just starting to set in as we alighted from the Uber, we looked up from the bottom of the stone steps leading to the hotel entrance only to see an extensive spread of plastic coated scaffolding. The distinctive high pitched whine of a multi tool filled the air and our hearts sank.
We stood for what seemed like hours at the make shift reception answering endless questions about our stay that no there hotel had done in five weeks. The noise of the building works coupled with a language barrier exacerbated the situation and I was getting a headache. We had Kaiseki evening meals included in our stay which would inevitably include raw fish. We appreciated that it was an alien concept for the Japanese that someone might not like sushimi but here it was as though we’d broken the law or something. Pieces of paper were signed presumably for use later to prove our lack of judgement and help define the appropriate prison sentence.
Finally, the ordeal was over and we were looking forward to getting into our room and using the en suite onsen.. But no, our room wasn’t ready so we asked if there was a lounge area that we could wait in. No, that was part of the building work area but we could wait in the restaurant. We did that and then got told off for not ordering food. I think that Pauline’s black look was a bit much or them to cope with though and we were left in peace. Apart from the building work noise that is.
Eventually we did get into the room. It was basic in decoration and had furniture that had seen plenty of use. The view from the window was the best thing about the place so we sat and watched that while we waited for the uncomfortable looking concrete bathtub, that was pretending to be an onsen, fill up.
The dribble from the tap meant that it took a very long time to fill and when eventually it did, it was even more uncomfortable than it looked and the water was warm at best.
We explored the unheated corridors of the hotel which were desperately sad in their disrepair until we found the communal baths. These were better and included an outdoor pool. It was odd lying in an outside bath with the rain coming down but nevertheless relaxing.
Feeling refreshed and rested we dressed up in the garb provided and went down for dinner. Kaiseki involves cooking for yourself at lot apart from the stuff that is raw like the sushimi so, in spite of all of the fuss about it, it’s actually a complete cop out for the chef.
Pauline looks happy here but wasn’t quite so chuffed when the ‘nothing from the sea’ substitute was just a big square of uncooked tofu.
It was a beautiful sunny morning when we woke up on Saturday and everything was right with the world. Even our very poor ‘western breakfast’ with cold mashed potato was not enough to dint our mood as we planned our day ahead.
Hakone is notoriously one of the busiest tourist hotspots in the country and pretty much everybody that visits is after one main prize; a view of Mount Fuji.
We wanted to see this too having only had a teasing glimpse of the thing from the train window but we also wanted to try to seek out a bit more of the area so we used our map with receptionist scribbles on to help us plot a route. (our hotel is more or less in the middle of the map with a circle drawn around it)
The open air art museum seemed like an obvious place to start as it was only fifteen minutes walk from the hotel and opened at 9.00am. We were one of the first people through the door and so we were able to walk around the vast area without any jostling.
Established in 1969 and set out over 70,000 square metres of land, this art museum is absolutely fantastic.
You really don’t need to know very much about art to spot the fact that there is a wealth of the most famous sculptures on display here.
Set out in a beautiful rolling landscape with a weave of paths and water features, the place is utterly captivating.
And in every corner there are more intriguing pieces of artwork.
Interaction is encouraged but, in this case, only f you are under 12…
This one was available to all though so, of course, I climbed up to the top.
Then at the end of the park is the Picasso building with over 300 pieces of his work inside.
We were blown away by the quantity and quality of the exhibits and wondered how it was possible for such a place to exist with such open access
With even the most famous pieces unguarded and available to touch
What open air art museum is not complete with a naturally fed hot spring foot bath?
We had a great time
But eventually it was time to beam back up to the world of Mt Fuji sightseeing hopefuls happy though that the feelings of negativity that we’d experienced yesterday when arriving at the hotel were now long gone. What a fantastic surprise this museum had been.
The pre determined route around the area starts with getting to the head on the funicular railway that leads to the ropeway (cable car) that leads to the lake that leads to Moto Hakone that leads to the road with the bus back to the hotel.
To start with, we walked to the penultimate stop on the private railway which was only ten minutes walk from the open air art museum.
Gora station and a chance to look around some shops with some local nicknacks before muscling into the queue for the funicular.
I didn’t get a picture of the funicular as I was too busy battling for space but here is the cable car upper entry hall. there were so few people arriving that I couldn’t help but think that we were going the wrong way around the tourist loop.
The cars were all seating so they felt considerably safer than the ones we had seen in Nikko. Pauline was not comfortable and spent most of the surprisingly long journey with her eyes closed.
There was a half way point change over from one cable route to another which provided a further opportunity for the sale of bits of tat and a close up look at an active volcano. There is constant monitoring of this to detect any early rumbles but I am not sure id want to be around to find out if there was enough time to clear the area if it did decide to blow.
The smell of sulphur was intense which made it totally bizarre that the food item being sold the most here was ‘black eggs’. Baked in the local hot springs for an hour these rather nasty looking objects were all the rave and lines of locals waited their turn for the opportunity to have their photo taken in front of a giant replica of one.
Difficult to pick out but the towers of Tokyo can be seen in the far distance.
Resisting the temptation to photo bomb the family snapshots and moving a little away from the smell of rotten eggs, we ventured to the point in the road that offered the best views of the great Mt Fuji. We were lucky as apparently she is only visible for about a third of the days each year.
We joined in on the photo fun for our only selfie of the holiday!
The mountain was still very much in view for the last stage of cable car decent had it not been for the discoloured plastic windows of the car. It didn’t make any difference to Pauline as she had her eyes closed!
Most of the other tourists had been keeping themselves to themselves but on this particular leg, there was an obnoxious couple from an unidentifiable eastern block country who were tutting loudly at the fact that Pauline was in the way of their view and spent their time exaggerating how they had to hold their phones to get a glimpse of the mountain.
We took great delight in making sure that they had to wait the maximum amount of time to get off the gondola behind us at the base of the route and then managed to keep them behind us again at the queue for the next leg.
Lake Ashinoko formed as a pocket of space between ancient lava flows is filled with 30 metre deep water that is kept from freezing all year round by the permanent underground supply of hot spring water. Pretty handy for sailing pirate ships across it all year round. Why anyone decided that this design would make the experience any more special is beyond me unless it is just intended to make the sheep tourists feel like they are being totally taken for mugs.
We landed after an uneventful journey that had taken us, according to the tinny tannoy, past some ‘world famous’ features. We ate a good lunch to cover for the lack of breakfast and then took a pleasant walk along a wooded path around the southeast corner of the lake in the hope that we might find a spot to view the mountain once more before returning to the hotel.
And eventually we did with the exceptional good fortune of also seeing one of the pirate ships too!
Back at the hotel after a hideously crowded bus ride we took in the scenery from our bedroom balcony, had a last go in the outside onsen, had our last kaiseki meal and slept before heading back to Tokyo the next morning, our last journey in Japan before heading home..
Tokyo Revisited
What a difference a day makes!
Having initially wondered why we weren’t staying in Hakone for longer, we were pleased to be moving on after two nights there. There were a couple of art museums we could have taken in and a public onsen but honestly after five weeks we were ready to go home.
The trip back to Tokyo was straightforward and quiet as most people were heading in the opposite direction for a Sunday out on a pirate ship. Our guidebook suggested swapping onto a local train at the main station but we opted to walk for 20 minutes until we found our nice 5 star hotel.
Tokyo station is always this full I think as are the smoking rooms at platform level. 🤮
Even though it was Sunday a majority of the show on knife street were open. This isn’t a reference to stab city but a road that crammed full of kitchen equipment shops with a massive array of knives and lots of radishes available to test the sharpness of them.
We found the shop that Masa Hatori had recommended and were treated to a top class sales pitch before buying as much as we thought we might be able to fit into our already burgeoning bags. Whilst there another westerner was also buying and we were pleased to hear that he had researched the best shops to visit and ended up in this one.
Uniqlo next before a nice, if a little overpriced meal, at the hotel. We really have run out of enthusiasm for hunting down restaurants from Google search by now so just went for comfort and ease.
Our view from the breakfast table above shows a view that could be anywhere in this massive sprawling city. The quantity of shops, restaurants and high rise office buildings seems endless.
Ceckout was at 11.00am so we had quite a few hours to fill before the airport pick up taxi due at 6.00pm. The weather was kind once more and we headed out on foot to explore our local area.
Even in this huge metropolis there are still random pockets of tranquil beauty that defy the conditioning of people that come from western countries where pieces of art like this Henry Moore piece would either be adorned by graffiti and rubbish or more likely just be stolen.
We visited the castle only to find that it was shut to the public.
And went to look at the strolling garden. It was all very nice but we reflected on how lucky we had been to have visited far more impressive examples during our time in Japan.
The old Tokyo station.
Dwarfed by its modern neighbours
And then, before we knew it, we were off to the airport and our trip was coming to an end.
It has been fantastic and we feel that we have given Japan a fair go. Even covering the wide range of different cities, towns, temples, shrines and more Torii gates than you can shake a stick at, we are sure that there is more and with a future visit a distinct possibility we consider the more remote regions as destinations to put on our bucket list. For now though, happy reflections on this trip will linger for a long time.
Japan had delivered on our expectations and some. The people we had met had been charming, welcoming and at times excruciatingly polite. We had joined in as best as we were able with a culture so unique and ordered that sometimes it is stifling. We had seen the tick list sights and enjoyed the lesser visited places more. I’d even managed to speak a few clumsy words of the language and had felt a little respected for it. We had eaten some unidentified food items and had enjoyed some of it. We had walked and walked and walked so much that even our fitness apps were confused with new exercise patterns.
Now though, we were ready for home and a roast dinner!
I went for the omelette for breakfast on the plane. The thought of more kaiseki (labelled as a Bento box here) was too much, even with all of the components identified clearly for the first time in five weeks.
Thank you for following our trip away and I hope that you have enjoyed the photos and commentary.
Sayonara until the next time…