Japan 2026 - Day 5 / Hakone

Steps today: 12 175 / 8.02km

Today we went for an excursion to Hakone "to do the Loop"

It was a fun day, and it was not THAT crowded, however I felt that there there was still a lot of waiting around to get to the next part of the loop than time actually spent enjoying each stage. My record-low step count for the day attests to that.

I can't imagine what it must be like in High Season. I think it must suffer under the weight of it's own popularity.

Step one was the train from Shinjuku to Hakone via a change in Odawara because I didn't want to pay the premium for a direct train. We had seats so it was fine.

Next is a railway to Gora which I thought was on a cog rail but no, it's an 8% incline which does a few switchbacks. We didn't have seats so could not enjoy the views that much. Instead I just watched this little girl play with her friends, she was so cute!!! Out the window is an iron bridge but that's about all I saw.

After this, a funicular to Sounzan - no pictures. The wait was in the sun so I was getting moody. We got seats but facing away from the window.

From Sounzan, it was a Cable Car Gondola over the steaming Owakudani volcano, that was neat! And we even caught a glimpse of Mount Fuji.

One of the "must" at the Owakudani stop is to eat a black egg. They are regular chicken eggs boiled in the sulfurous hot springs, and the sulfur and iron turn the shell black. Legend has it that eating one will extend your life by 7 years.

 

I was game to give it in a go, but they are only sold in packs for 4 and Frank wasn't interested. Instead we went to the cafeteria restaurant where I happy to finally have Tonkatsu (panko covered fried pork). It was great!

After lunch, it was back in the Gondola to the next stop: Cruise on Lake Ashi in Replica Pirate ships.

It was a nice short cruise, the wait to get on the boat was longer than the cruise - again I wonder: what goes on in High Season!!!  I had a nice window seat view but I regret now that I didn't go on deck. On a clear day you can get full on views of Mount Fuji, but we were not that fortunate.

We cruised to the first stop along the route and instead of visiting the shrines, we just walked through the park along the lake.

After this, it was a bus ride back to the train station and then back on the train to Tokyo.  

We had supper at a Beer Hall not far from the Italian place we went to yesterday, a restaurant on the first floor, I didn't bother with pictures so I forgot what I ate -  there was a Pretzel. Frank had a plate of sausage. This is a picture from another day.

This is a 10 minute walk from the room, so convenient! We were tucked away by 7PM, ready for sleep.