The back story
Hakone and Mount Fuji: lakes, hot springs and the mountain
Hot-spring inns in the hills, the red torii of Hakone Shrine on Lake Ashi, the steaming valley of Ōwakudani, and Mount Fuji above the Five Lakes.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © This Photo was taken by Supanut Arunoprayote. Feel free to use any of my images, · CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsMount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2013 as “Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration”. Two classic trips from Tokyo show it: Hakone, a hot-spring resort in the hills to the south-east, with Lake Ashi and its shrine gate; and the Fuji Five Lakes to the north, with Lake Kawaguchi at their heart.
Hakone
Odakyū’s Romancecar runs from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto; from there the mountain railway, cable car and ropeway climb over Ōwakudani to Lake Ashi, where boats cross to Hakone Shrine and its torii in the water.
The Fuji Five Lakes
Lake Kawaguchi, at the foot of the mountain, is reached by express bus or train from Shinjuku; the five-storey Chūreitō pagoda in Fujiyoshida is the classic view with Fuji behind.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France · CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsFuji hides in cloud for much of the summer: the clearest views come on winter mornings.
Seeing the mountain
The mountain is most often clear on cold, dry mornings from late autumn to early spring. The climbing season is in summer only, roughly July to early September.
Our advice: stay a night in a Hakone ryokan with its own hot-spring bath, and be at the lake early for Fuji.
Why it's on our list
- Hakone
- The Fuji Five Lakes
- Seeing the mountain
Location
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