5/5/24: Hakone Delights!

 

From the city of Hakone, Steven and I drove back up 'the long and winding road' to see the sights in its mountainous area.

 

Huge red torii gates welcomed all to the lakeside community of Moto-Hakone nestled in the mountains of Japan's most visited national park. According to Britannica, the torii is the symbolic gateway marking the entrance to the sacred precincts of a Shinto shrine in Japan. The torii has many variations and characteristically consists of two cylindrical vertical posts topped by a crosswise rectangular beam extending beyond the posts on either side and a second crosswise beam a short distance below the first. Some authorities relate the torii to the Indian gateway arch, the torana, which reached Japan with the spread of Buddhism. Others connect the torii with traditional gates in Manchuria and elsewhere in China. The torii, often painted bright red, demarcates the boundary between the sacred space of the shrine and ordinary space. Torii gates also identify other sacred spots, such as a mountain or rock.

Because it was a glorious Saturday morning and Hakone was often a fun but long day trip from Tokyo, it seemed like everybody and their uncle had also decided to 'do' Hakone's famous sights that day like us. We were extremely lucky to find a parking spot next to Hakone Shrine which dates to 757. After many military commanders and travelers who regularly visited the Hakone area prayed at this shrine, its fame grew throughout the country. 

We didn't see any other Westerners at the main shrine or anywhere else in the complex which surprised us. 

A long line of worshippers ready to pray:

Ready for the trek to Hakone Peace Shrine Gate past smaller shrines and through a lantern-lined path through the forest:

    

At the bottom of the steps was the area's most iconic site, Hakone Shrine's underwater Peace Torii located on the shores of Lake Ashi. It was a smaller version of its more famous counterpart at Miyajima Island near Hiroshima, which we'd visit in a few weeks. The lake, located about 720m above sea level and the largest in the prefecture or province, is a key tourist attraction in Hakone as it's framed by the nearby mountain range including the famous Mt. Fuji.

Dainty butterfly plants bloomed in profusion along the trail.

According to one local legend, while Mangan Shonin, the priest considered the founder of Hakone Shrine, was studying at nearby Mt. Koma, he had a vision in which he was told to build a sanctuary by the lake. However, Lake Ashi was terrorized by a dragon and villagers sacrificed local girls by the shore to appease the creature. Mangan, undeterred by the dragon's ire, sat in the water on a stone slab and prayed for three days and nights. The dragon finally gave up and apologized but Mangan, still unhappy, tied his rival to a tree that a landslide had swept into the water upright and was stuck to the bottom of the lake. The remorseful dragon transformed into Kusuzyu, a nine-headed dragon god, and pledged to be the land's protector if the locals honored him with an annual prayer. The yearly prayer to Kuzuzyu takes place on July 31 when traditional red rice is offered at the shrine. The red torii gate is where Mangan prayed in the water.

We were excited to see the celebrated Mt. Fuji again after spotting it on the train from Tokyo the previous morning.

If you think your eyes are deceiving you, they're not - this was indeed a 'pirate ship' taking a turn on the lake. It may sound cheesy but we were looking forward to doing it, too, soon.

First up was taking a stroll on the Old Tokaido Highway as Hakone was once a major checkpoint on one of five main highways that linked Tokyo and Kyoto during the Edo Period, 1603-1868. Though the 'highway' was now just a trail bordered by over 400 cedars that were centuries old and reached 90 feet high and up to 12 feet in circumference, it was a lovely way to escape the crowds by the pier.

The Hakone Checkpoint opened in 1619 soon after the Edo shogunate was established. It was used to impose tight controls on travelers, particularly women, wanting to leave Edo, present-day Tokyo. Travelers were required to show their ID or tegata and have their bills of passage inspected at one of the teahouses before entering the checkpoint. It had two main gates, several major watchhouses, and also smaller guard houses for lowly-ranked samurai. It closed down in 1869 at the end of the Edo Period.

After 'supporting the local economy' and eating one of the ubiquitous ice cream cones, we walked back along the lake. Give it another week or so and these wisteria would be at their peak.

We couldn't have timed it any better, arriving just in time to catch the pirate ship cruise from Hakone-machi to Togendai on the north side of the caldera lake!

Sorry, but we just couldn't get enough of Mt. Fuji!

People likely lined up for an hour or more to have their picture taken by the floating red torii gate - we hadn't wanted to wait earlier.

After disembarking at Togendai at 741m elevation, we hopped on a cable car on the Hakone Ropeway toward Owakudani. We wondered what we were in for after seeing these signs and being given moist towels to cover our noses!

I think everyone in our cable car was astounded by the view even though it was getting hazy.

In hindsight, we shouldn't have gotten off the cable car at the midway point as there was nothing to see there except for old cable cars and it ended up costing us valuable time and money later in the day. A PA announcer had said there was an observation deck there but we couldn't find it so we hopped on the next cable car going further up Mount Hakone.

The sulfur odor was pretty strong but not uncomfortable as we neared the last stop on the ropeway. We enjoyed the stunning views of the volcano below and were happy knowing that the ropeway wasn't again closed because of volcanic activity as it had been not long ago.

The ropeway ended at 1044m at Owakudani, the epicenter of Hakone's volcanic activity and known as the “Great Seething Valley.” Its origins go back to about 130,000 years when eruptions in the Hakone caldera first formed a cone-shaped volcano at the caldera’s center. This central cone has collapsed and emerged anew several times over the millennia. During the Edo Period, locals called the place “Great Hell Hole” but in 1876, before a visit by Emperor Meiji, 1852–1912, they decided to give the area the less diabolical name Owakudani to present their home region in a good light! Today, besides keeping Hakone’s many hot springs hot, Owakudani is a site of extensive scientific research and a popular tourist attraction, where “black eggs” steamed over sulfurous water are a local novelty. Eating one is said to prolong one's life by seven years!

Our ascent of the mountain still wasn't complete - after a long wait for a gondola, we towered over more incredible shots of the volcano which was huffing and puffing for all to know its might!

On one side of the mountain, we could see where volcanic activity from 2015 had laid waste to the mountainside and everything in its wake.

In just a blink of an eye, nothing but a verdant and lush landscape and the town of Sounzan lay ahead, however. The vagaries of Mother Nature can never be underestimated!

At Sounzan, a three-car train took us to Gora at the end of the line. What a journey it had been - by pirate ship across the lake, a ropeway, a gondola, and then the train, all perfectly synchronized as long as people were extremely patient and didn't mind queuing for ages at each step on the way!

We could have taken a bus immediately down the mountain to the lake but after taking so much time to arrive in little Gora, we chose to wander a bit.

Steven enjoyed his freshly made seaweed rice cracker.

Then it was time to retrace our steps or at least we hoped!

Just in the hour or so since we'd made the ascent, there was greater seismic activity and winds buffeted the gondola.

After getting off the gondola, the lines to board the ropeway for Togendai at Owakudani seemed interminable, lasting close to an hour. As we got near the front of the line, we noticed the cable cars weren't being filled to capacity. Perhaps the high winds?

From the ropeway, we saw the last pirate ship of the day leave Togendai minutes before we arrived. It seemed surprising that the pirate boat or other passenger boats weren't available to take into account all the people still needing to get across the lake after coming off the mountain. We were definitely in a pickle - we hopped on a bus but got off in a few stops when we realized it was going to Gora and wouldn't reach the lake area for another 90 minutes!  Thankfully, Steven spotted a taxi driver who was quite happy to take us around the lake and back to Hakone Shrine where we'd left our car!

The shrine's smoking area:

The final photo of Hakone Shrine before the long drive down the mountain back to town:

Japanese authorities had done a masterful job of making the road as safe as possible with red stripes alerting drivers to dangerous turns. 

An odd takeaway so far about our time in Japan: ubiquitous vending machines selling all manner of drinks and located by people's homes in busy areas, outside businesses, museums, and even shrines and temples.

Posted on May 17th, 2024, on our last night here in Osaka, Japan. Our full day in Hakone's mountain area was a definite thrill, a lark, and just a fun all-around experience from beginning to end! Please take care of yourself and your loved ones.

Next post: Hakone's wetlands, Lalique's artistry, and Mt. Fuji!