A different Hakone
General Information
It is best to stay for at least one night in Hakone to enjoy the many things it has to offer. We chose to stay at the Kowaiki en Hotel; it is often featured on TV commercials. It hosts a lovely garden as well as its own onsen, separate for men and women. Breakfast can be obtained in the dining room. It also has a souvenir store and many convenience machines should you wish to buy a beer or juice can.
Across the road from this hotel is the popular Yunnesun Spa. It has many indoor and outdoor spas where swimwear is required. Outdoor spas range from green tea to red wine. Indoor spas are diverse with a little paddle pool for toddlers, a curry bath, and a bath where little fish tickle your toes as well as a Dead Sea salt bath where you can have that floating feeling. If you have time for more relaxation they have Chinese masseurs to relieve your achy legs and feet.
We recommend dinner at Restaurant Roi, it has lovely meals in a modern studio café styled eatery.
Our Adventure.
An interesting fact about Hakone is that it was the most difficult passage of the journey from Kyoto to Edo, the poor messengers or runners stumbling through thick vegetation and risking their lives through treacherous ravines. Parts of the old highway can still be found not far from the main township of Hakone. As I touched the bare ground I thought of those tired horses and feet traveling from one yadoya (tea house or lodging place) to another, one village to another, what message did they carry, what hopes did they aspire to in their destinations?
Many souvenir shops line the tiny streets that look out to the Ashino Lake. Their wares are the sought after yosegi craft of wood. This is an age old tradition of layering thin slices of different distinct colored and textured woods to form a mosaic pattern when cut. One can buy many goods, for example, bookmarks of thin veneer, mirrors with beautiful backings, boxes to keep secrets, and of course bowls etc. I managed to find a miniature Japanese tea set made of yosegi craft wood, each piece so separate, the lid of the teapot, even tiny saucers to accompany the handle-less cups.
After we passed under the huge red tori-i (red frame gate like structures found across Japan symbolizing a passage in between worlds) we found ourselves at the quayside. After purchasing a ticket from the man at the ticket box and checking the timetable we sat in a clear windowed waiting room, much like waiting for a ferry. Then it was time to board the rather European styled pirate boat. You can purchase a first or second class ticket, we chose first and we could sit in the upper level of the boat seeing the view from the windows or venturing out onto the deck below to glimpse at the sights. A recorded message plays out in Japanese and English informing us to look either to the left or right to see some piece of historical landscape or architecture. An interesting fact I learnt was that a local Shogun many years ago devised a system to channel water from the lake up into the mountain villages to provide water for the rice crops. What a genius man!
After making the way around the lake, an altogether round trip of 45 minutes or so, we stopped and bought the compulsory omiyagi or souvenirs for acquaintances and workmates, the sembei or rice cracker with a boat picture on it etc. Yet far more interesting a thing to give to a workmate than a rice cracker is the tale of the adventure that we had and the history that we visited in Hakone!
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