Is Hakone Worth Visiting?
Hakone, Japan is known for Owakudai, The Hakone Open-Air Museum, and Heiwa no Torii, a famous Torii Gate built on the shores of Lake Ashi. A short drive from the Mt. Fuji area and an easy trip from Tokyo, Hakone is a popular tourist destination where visitors come for its beautiful resorts, many attractions, and scenic areas. Hakone has been on my list of places to visit in Japan for a while now, mainly because of the Heiwa no Torii. I am glad I visited Hakone, but after leaving the area, I felt both satisfied and disappointed. So is Hakone worth visiting?
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Going from Tokyo to Hakone is fairly straight forward and there are multiple ways to get to Hakone from Tokyo. Most visitors traveling to Hakone will arrive via train🚝 or car🚗rental.
If renting a car is not an option. Visitors can take a train from Tokyo to Hakone. There are direct routes from Shinjuku to Hakone via Odawara. The train ride takes about 1.5 hours and costs about ¥2500 one-way.
You can also take the shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara and transfer to Hakone.
If you are familiar with driving in Japan or feel a little adventurous, I highly recommend renting a car and driving to Hakone from Tokyo. Driving gives you the freedom you want to explore. We rented a vehicle through Agoda and had no issues driving to Hakone.
Many of the attractions in and around Hakone are spread out and driving is the easiest way to reach these destinations.
Depending on the attraction, there are buses, gondolas, and boats to take you to various attractions around Hakone.
Things to Do in Hakone that are a Must
If you are looking for things to do in Hakone or Hakone attractions, I came up with a few of my most recommended sites to see and places to visit. I believe one day in Hakone is plenty of time to visit the must see sites. Here are a few of the attractions and things we did, that make Hakone worth visiting. The attractions listed below are in the order of what we did while taking a day trip to Hakone from the Mt. Fuji area.
Choanji Buddhist Temple
Driving from Gotemba to Hakone we first stopped at a Buddhist Temple called Choanji. There are people that say “Once you see one temple, you’ve seen them all.” I highly disagree, I’ll visit every temple I see, same goes with cathedrals in Europe. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit Choanji Temple, especially because it is somewhat unique.
Choanji Buddhist Temple is outside of the town of Hakone and easily reached by car. Although the temple wasn’t much to look at, the garden and unique statues made Choanji well worth a visit. There are over 200 rakan statues scattered throughout the temple grounds, each statue being unique. There was also a peaceful pond here, large cemetery, and gorgeous views.
Owakudani
Visiting Owakudani is my most recommended thing to do in Hakone. The nature here was fascinating. Owakudani is a volcanic area known for it’s sulfur springs and Kuro Tamago (Black Eggs).
Let’s start with Kuro Tamago. These are literally normal eggs that they boil in the sulfuric springs on site. Due to the boiling process, the outside of the eggs turn black. You can buy the Kuro Tamago at several locations at Owakudani, usually in packs of 4. It is said that with each egg you eat, it will add an additional 7 years to your life.
At the site of Owakudani, there are several buildings mainly souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants. There is also a Geo Museum on the grounds that was worth a visit. The Geo Museum was small but it was only ¥100.
There are several observation decks around the area for visitors to get views of the sulfuric springs. There is a trail that gets visitors closer to the activity, but as of today this is a guided tour only and reservations are required.
Hakone Open-Air Museum
One of the more surprising sites and attractions in Hakone was the Hakone Open-Air Museum. When I think of open air museums, I think of places like Shirakawa-go, historical homes and buildings that have been restored in a traditional setting. But the Hakone Open-Air Museum was more of a modern art museum in a beautiful outdoor park. I am not big into modern art, but I like the idea of it being outside in nature. Many of the sculptures were interesting and the nature was beautiful, so I do recommend visiting the Hakone Open-Air Museum.
The park itself was huge, you could spend all day here. There are numerous trails that lead to different exhibits. There is a Picasso exhibition that many might find interesting. My favorite piece of art was the Symphonic Sculpture. You can walk inside here and to the top of the beautiful stained glass silo looking sculpture.
For more information about this attraction, feel free to visit the Hakone Open-Air Museum Website.
Amasake Tea House
A beautiful and traditional 400 year old tea house is just a short drive from Lake Ashi. I found out about this tea house while browsing through Atlas Obscura.
The Amasake Teahouse is a thatched roof traditional building, that was used as a rest area for travelers back in the day. Today, it hasn’t changed much. Visitors are welcome to come here and relax, drink matcha tea, or try their Amazake. Amazake is a non-alcoholic rice wine. Their menu and recipes have remained unchanged since their opening 400years ago.
Hakone Shrine
Hakone’s most favorite and sought after attraction is Hakone Shrine and its Torii Gate that is seen standing in the water. This is the torii gate you see on every postcard and travel article. Because of its beauty and popularity, this shrine can be very crowded with foreigners.
In Hakone, there are several parking areas around Lake Ashi. You can then walk to Hakone Shrine. Hakone Shrine is a beautiful Shinto Shrine surrounded by huge Cedar Trees. You can follow the shrine down to the torii gate or take a hiking trail that hugs Lake Ashi to the torii gate. We took the trail to the left and followed it until we reached the gate and then followed the path to the shrine.
While hiking the trail, I couldn’t help but notice how peaceful the small hike was. It followed the beautiful Lake Ashi, the trees were calm, and hardly a soul in sight. Until we reached the floating torii gate. It was a zoo here. There were at least a hundred people gathered around the gate and a long line of tourists waiting to get that iconic photo of them under the shrine with the lake in the background.
This was my big disappointment I mentioned earlier on. Now that Japan is open to tourism it has become the new normal. Every major attraction has lines now because tourists want to take a selfie with the attraction and Hakone Shrine is no different. I am simple, I have my DSLR camera and just want good shots of the torii gate with the pleasant background. Unfortunately, to get a good photo I’d have to wait in line like everyone else for 45 minutes to an hour. I found this to be a huge waste of time and just stood to the side and too quick photos once people moved out of the area. Unfortunately, my photos weren’t as good or creative as I’d hope, but it wasn’t worth the wait.
It was frustrating to stand there and watch groups of people go to take photos. First they would all take a selfie, then a couple photo, then a group photo, and so on. Then the photographer would take 100 photos from different angles. This was absurd and then to think it takes 2-5 minutes per person and group with a hundred people in line.
I do think Hakone Shrine and the floating torii gate were beautiful and the area is very picturesque. But the mass amounts of tourists taking photos took away from the beauty of it all, that is just my opinion.
Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi is one of the main natural attractions in Hakone. On clear days, Mt. Fuji might make an appearance offering visitors picturesque views of Japan’s most iconic mountain.
Lake Ashi is a popular attraction for several reasons. You can get great views of Fuji, see Heiwa no Torii, and take unique boat tours across the lake.
Visitors can rent boats on Lake Ashi, there are even swan boats that can be rented for ¥1500 a half hour. There is a ferry terminal here for the unique lake cruises. One of the more unique cruise ships is a boat made to look like a pirate ship.
So, Is Hakone Worth Visiting?
Is Hakone worth visiting? The short answer is, yes! But I personally don’t recommend coming here just to visit Hakone Shrine. If you are like me, you will just be disappointed. Instead, I recommend turning your Hakone visit into a day trip and visit many of the other attractions like eating kuro tamago at Owakudani or enjoying matcha tea at Amasake Tea House.
Obviously, you can’t go to Hakone without seeing Hakone Shrine and the floating torii gate. Maybe some of you are willing to wait in line for a photo, after all it is most likely a once in a lifetime opportunity. My recommendation would be, especially if you are staying in Hakone would be to wake up at sunrise and head over the the shrine to be the late morning crowds.
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Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️🇯🇵
Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖
For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com
Activities and Tours 🏖️🚁
Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.
In need of a car rental? 🚗🚘
I recommend checking with Rental Cars.
Train Travel 🚂🚊
For the JR Pass, tickets can be purchased on the JR Pass site.
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