Hakone, an easy day trip or overnight from Tokyo, combines onsen hot spring culture, an open-air art museum with a serious sculpture collection, and (on clear days) direct views of Mount Fuji across Lake Ashi, all reachable via a scenic combination of train, cable car, and boat that's become an attraction in its own right.
Hot Springs and Fuji Views
Hakone's onsen ryokans, many with outdoor baths (rotemburo) looking out over forested hillsides, offer one of Japan's most accessible introductions to hot spring bathing culture, most require full nudity and a thorough pre-bath wash, standard onsen etiquette worth knowing before arriving.
The Hakone Ropeway crosses over the volcanically active Owakudani valley, where sulphurous steam vents still rise from the ground, black eggs boiled in the naturally hot, sulphurous water are a local specialty, said to add years to your life for each one eaten, according to local folklore.
Art and the Lake
The Hakone Open-Air Museum displays Henry Moore, Picasso, and dozens of other major sculptors' work across landscaped hillside grounds, with a dedicated Picasso pavilion holding over 300 of his works, genuinely one of the best sculpture parks anywhere in the world.
Lake Ashi, formed by a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago, offers pirate-ship-styled sightseeing boats crossing to the torii gate of Hakone Shrine, which appears to float on the water's surface, the classic Fuji-and-torii-gate photo is best captured from the boat's deck on a clear morning.
Recommended Stay · Hakone · Gora
Gora Kadan
A traditional ryokan built on the former estate of the imperial family, with private outdoor onsen baths and a kaiseki dining experience considered among the best in the region.
