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Wellness Break: Bury yourself in the absolute serenity and beauty of Hakone

By on September 10, 2018

Hakone as an escape destination is beautiful, secluded and located in a peaceful natural environment allowing you to focus on restoring your balance.

Crossing the lake is a simple matter of boarding one of three brightly painted galleons. There’s no explanation for the surreal presence of these ships but on clear days, they do afford some of the best views of Mount Fuji hovering above Lake Ashi.

The forty-minute boat ride takes you to Togendai where you can take a ropeway up to the Owakudani nature trail. Midway to the peak is where you’re most likely to enjoy a typical beauty shot of clouds crowned by Mount Fuji.

GEYSER EGGS AND WASABI ICE CREAM

The Owakudani nature trail is a short walk among open geysers, spewing gray clouds of sulphuric gases. The air can be dense with fumes so those with asthma are advised to maintain a little distance. The specialty here is a blackened chicken egg cooked in the geysers which is said to afford 7 years of additional life for every egg eaten.
For a different kind of culinary treat, you can also try wasabi ice cream which is violently green and tastes like vanilla ice cream with a “bite.”

ARTISTIC ESCAPES

From Owakudani, take another ropeway and then a cable car down to Gora. Gora is a small station surrounded entirely by hot spring hotels. It’s the first stop on the famous Hakone Tozan Train, Japan’s first mountain railway. The unique feature of this line is its zig-zagged route along a steep mountain face.
The next station back to Hakone-Yumoto is Chokokunomori which is where you should stop to visit the Hakone Open Air Museum.
After opening in 1969, the museum has since become one of the best retreats for families anywhere around Tokyo. It offers ample play areas for children, a “castle” of nets, a series of climbing gyms, as well as an indoor “bubble” park. There’s a variety of open spaces, and an interesting contrast of post-modern sculpture set against a natural green backdrop.

Continuing back to Hakone-Yumoto station,  take a side trip to the Hakone Glass Museum for some unique and colouful art glass displays of Venice origin.  The garden and the beautiful glass veil make for a perfect  family photo as well as selfie background with many opportunities for shopping. (You have been warned!)  The admission fees may be quite expensive (¥1,500 for adults; elem/Jr. High students ¥600)  for the limited contents it offer but the experience is priceless.

ONSEN ESCAPES

Of course, the main reason tourists flock to Hakone-Yumoto is because of its hot spring resorts. Time permitting, we really do recommend that you include an overnight stay in your visit. Long espoused for their medicinal benefits, the waters at Hakone are said to be extraordinarily beneficial for the skin and limbic system.

HOTEL HATSUHANA

There are countless resorts along the Hakone circuit but Hotel Hatsuhana is a sheer delight. I stayed in this beautiful,15 year-old traditional Japanese inn, set in a serenely verdant corner of this bustling onsen town. Every guest can fully enjoy the eternal beauty of Oku Yumoto ravine from their tatami rooms.

To get there, I took a shuttle bus from the Hakone-Yumoto station which conveniently leaves every half hour from 10:45 in the morning till 6:45 p.m. The reception area and entrance to the hotel is actually on the sixth floor since the hotel dramatically overhangs a ravine. Koto music plays in the background while you’re waiting to be checked in, and there you can restfully nurse a drink from the open bar in the lounge.

If you arrive in the late afternoon, there’s time to unpack before settling down to traditional kaiseki fare offered by the hotel’s two-floor restaurant. Time permitting after dinner, you can enjoy intimacy and dessert in one of the restaurant’s more private dining rooms.

After settling into your room, you have a choice of baths. For women, a big inside bath, an outdoor rotemburo and a jacuzzi are on the 2nd floor, and at  the female-only spa ‘Yamazakura’, there are 4 different hydrotherapy pools with real onsen spring water. Men can choose between the inside bath or a relaxing soak in a rotemburo or in a jacuzzi on the 4th floor.

Once bathed, try dressing in a yukata and then laying back on a futon for a full night’s rest, completely removed from Tokyo’s noise and neon lights. Morning should see you revitalized and ready to explore further the joys of Hakone which  truly comes into its own during the autumn months when the autumnal foliage covers the landscape with vibrant, refreshing red, orange and yellow hues. The autumn leaves are usually best in November so book now.

HOTEL HATSUHANA HIGHLIGHTS

There are 10 public baths, 3 for men and 7 for women. There are also 8 rooms with private baths. Baths on the 2nd and 4th floors are open till midnight. The Spa ‘Yamazakura’ is open till 11pm.

Amenities include karaoke rooms, a banquet hall and meeting rooms. The hotel restaurant is spread out over two floors and offers a more private tea room for after-dinner relaxation and intimacy. The lounge is an open, spacious area, dimly lit by Japanese modern floor lamps. Because of its relaxed traditional atmosphere (koto music plays in the lounge area) and popular kaiseki menu, the inn is often busy during the peak season and reservations should be made well in advance via phone.

The hotel is ten minutes away from Hakone-Yumoto station with shuttle buses running every half hour starting from 10:45am until 6:45pm

20-1 Sukumogawa, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun,
Kanagawa Prefecture, 250-0313 – Tel: 0460-85-7321
www.odakyu-hotel.co.jp/hatsuhana/english/index.html

HAKONE FREEPASS

The Hakone Freepass allows you to ride 7 types of transport in the area. Unlimited boarding on the Hakone Tozan Train and Cable-car, the Hakone Ropeway & Sightseeing Cruise, and limited boarding on the Hakone Tozan bus, the Odakyu Hakone Highway bus & the Numazu Tozan Tokai bus.

The Full price for adults is ¥5,000, for children ¥1,500 and is valid for 2 days. The Freepass allows you to obtain discounts on entrance tickets or to receive special services from more than 50 attractions in the area. The Freepass includes the regular train fee between Shinjuku and Hakone-Yumoto. To use the “Romancecar” an additional fee is necessary.

 

 

ADDITIONAL LINKS AND INFORMATION

ODAKYU SIGHTSEEING SERVICE CENTER
Ground floor concourse near west exit, Odakyu Shinjuku Sta. Tel: (03) 5321-7887
www.odakyu.jp/english/center/index.html
Open 8am-6pm

The information counter inside the station is aimed at foreign visitors. The staff speak English and you can purchase the Hakone Freepass here and make hotel reservations.
www.odakyu.jp/english

HAKONE TOP 10 SITES
Gora Park                                    9am-5pm Daily
Hakone Begonia Garden                9am-5pm Daily
Hakone Detached Palace Garden    9am-5pm (Sep-Jun closed Tue)
Hakone Open-Air Museum             9am-5pm (Mar-Nov)
9am-4pm (Dec-Feb)
Hakone Toy Museum                     9am-5pm Daily
Himeshara Hot Springs                 10am-8pm Daily
Lalique Museum                           9am-5pm Daily
Old Hakone Checkpoint                 9am-4pm Daily
Odawara castle                             9am-4pm Tue-Sun
Pola Museum of Art                       9am-5pm Daily

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