In direct contrast to Tokyo, Hakone is a tiny, quaint little town known for its mineral hot springs, hiking trails, ropeways, cable cars, and pirate boat cruises on the extremely picturesque Lake Ashi. I felt like we’d been dropped deep into the previous century—on another planet!
We’d braved Tokyo’s morning commuter traffic on the subway, dragging our suitcases behind us, taking the Hazomon Subway Line, then the Toei Line, then the Shinkuku Line to the very end. Then we had to find the above-ground Odakyu Line for a 100-minute ride to the Odawara Station, where we caught a bus to Hakone.
According to our directions, the last leg, after transferring to the Hakone Tozan Bus Line, was supposed to be a quick 3-minute hop up a winding hill. After 5 minutes, I had Miriam push the stop button. Apparently, the bus doesn’t stop at the bus stops till someone pushes the button!
We got off the bus, but I didn’t know if we should go up or down the hill. Thankfully, a totally stereotypical weazened elderly Japanese gentleman appeared and greeted us with, “May I be of help to you?” I pointed to the name of our hotel on the map, and off he trotted, motioning us to follow. A few hundred feet later, he pointed at the hotel sign and beamed a big toothy smile at us. We thanked him profusely, and entered the building.
The desk clerk spoke the best English I’d heard in Japan. He explained we couldn’t check in until 3, and it was only just noon, but we could leave our bags and they’d be in our room when we returned. We then walked back down the windy, narrow hill to town, a little more than half a mile. Along the way, we saw lots of waterfalls, river dams, and a myriad of hiking trails going off in every direction. We passed on those, and headed straight for lunch!
We did some reconnaissance while eating and decided to use our Hakone Free Pass and go out to Lake Ashi. We caught a bus that wound around and around and up and down along narrow country roads. Got there okay, and used the free pass again to take the one-hour cruise on a “pirate ship” to the far end and back.
Lake Ashi is a crater-made lake, 720 meters above sea level. It sprinkled during our trip, and Mt. Fuji was obscured by clouds, but I’d managed a quick photo while on the long subway ride earlier, so we did get to see it!
Another bus took us back to Hakone, and still another the short hop up the hill to the hotel, which is Ichinoyu Honkan. Founded in 1630, it pioneered the hot springs Japanese cultural experience. So…. When in Rome… Or in this case, when in Hakone, one might as well experience an onsen… A public bath, or spa. Miriam and I immediately signed up for “private bath time” an hour after our scheduled “traditional Japanese dinner.”
Our room was on the third floor, and there was no elevator! We entered our room and discovered there were no beds, either! Bamboo mats covered the floor, and a low table, with legless chairs, held a tea set and bowl with two bean-paste “cookies.”
I found some “mattress mats” in the closet, along with comforters and traditional yukatas, or house robes. We had already locked our shoes away downstairs and switched to bamboo sandals for inside the building.
The view was fabulous, overlooking a tree-lined bubbling brook. There were two wooden chairs and a small round table by the windows on a small porch. There was a small sink, and a mirror attached to a tiny vanity without legs, where a cushion was placed to kneel upon while doing one’s make-up I assumed.
The toilet was down the hall and around two corners! Heaven help us little old ladies with a need to go in the night!
Dinner was up another long flight of stairs. We wore our house robes, as they told us to at the front desk. At first I thought I was going to starve… Soy, soy, tofu, edamame and miso were in all the appetizers and the main pot of pork we cooked at the table as well!
But then came steamed seafood… Two ounces of salmon, one shrimp, one REAL scallop. Miriam was so enjoying the pork pot, she passed her seafood right on over to me. Yum! Then tempera mackerel. Another yum. And of course, white sticky rice. For dessert we had pear sherbet, which had a strong taste, quite different, and very good. We both liked it a lot. So I got enough to eat after all, and avoided “sho-yu” in all its forms!
Then time for our “private bath.” (Don’t panic, I took no photos!) We went down to the first floor, got naked, followed the etiquette and cleansing suggestions, and immersed in the hot tank for our allotted 30 minutes. Very relaxing!
We both slept quite well, leaving our sliding bamboo doors open to the sound of the bubbling brook beneath our window.