Initially I thought Hakone was going to be a really tiny village with very little going on. However, it is quite a big area in the Kanagawa prefecture just outside of Tokyo. The area is surrounded by incredibly beautiful rolling green hills, covered by miles of uninterrupted forest. I stayed for 2 days and just enjoyed switching off my phone and taking the time to recharge my batteries in the beautiful weather.
I arrived into the town at 4:30pm and found that it had closed for the day. This seems to be normal in the more rural areas of Japan but I found it weird because I like to come out in the evenings when it is a lot cooler. I didn’t let the apparent early bed time put me off so I chose to wander around the town to see what I could find. My favourite part was the amount of beautiful blue hydrangeas everywhere, they grow wild in Japan and I just love it. The colour of the flowers depends on how acidic the soil is, then the flowers turn pink or blue.
There are a few cafes in the area but sadly I was not welcomed into them, it is the one and only time I have ever experienced any racism in Japan. Instead I visited the remote vending machine for refreshments, no matter how far you think you are from civilisation, you will always find a vending machine in Japan. I sat on a wall enjoying the greenery for a while and realised something is missing from this small town, the humans. Cicadas provided really loud background noise but I hadn’t seen anyone (human or cicada) outside of my hotel or the cafes.
It saddened me to realise that many of the beautiful houses in Hakone stand empty. Akiyas are a huge part of Japanese culture and it saddens me to think houses are simply left because they aren’t considered to be valuable once they begin to age. Hakone has a really eerie feel to the town because of the quiet and it made me feel a bit uneasy about exploring the area. I did spot another blue dinosaur driving a small van, a rare site but Japan is very dinosaur friendly.
I spent the evening of my stay sitting on the roof terrace of my hotel, it was incredibly beautiful and I could even see the Pacific Ocean. The sky was so clear and blue, with a lack of noise pollution I completely relaxed. Stars covered the sky beautifully, I never realised there were so many. I’d love to go star gazing in an observatory in the future or visit a dark skies park to fully experience the sky. My evening involved a cup of tea and a book under the stars and it was magical.
The next morning I was up really early to ride a rather scenic train down the mountains before heading on to Tokyo, a stark contrast from the serene mountain town I had been staying in. Hakone Tozan Railway is one of the most scenic routes in Japan that I went on. From mid-June, Japan’s most oldest mountain railway route is known as the hydrangea train because either side of the railway line is covered in flowers. The 35 minute train ride from Gora to Hakone-Yumoto is stunningly beautiful and winds down the mountain by crossing bridges and going through tunnels. There are three switchbacks along the route to allow the trains to weave their way down the mountain. I was surprised to stop at so many small stations along the way and some were rather popular. The second part of this railway line which takes you into Odawara is still scenic but the first part of the journey was definitely my favourite.
The train I rode on was very quiet because the majority of people do the route in the opposite direction, beginning in Tokyo and then going out to see Mount Fuji. I went in the opposite direction to give myself a rest in between visiting Japan’s major tourist cities. However, two things not to miss out on is a dip in an Onsen and also sitting on the platform in Odawara to watch the Shinkansen zoom by at full speed.
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