Ireland day 1330. Tuesday 20 May 2025- To Hakone

Today’s summary	Spent the day travelling from Takayama to Hakone. A multi step journey of narrow gauge train to Nagoya, Shinkansen to Odawara, bus to Ubako then taxi to our Ryokan. Took about seven hours end to end and required careful concentration so as not to miss connections. The ryokan where we are staying is lovely and if the clouds lift, has views of Mt Fuji. Private onsen on the balcony! Delicious Japanese meal in the ryokan’s restaurant in the evening
Today’s weather	Dry and sultry most of the day. Light breeze to start with but quite strong south westerly wind on the pass over to Ubako. Appx 30c in Nagoya, 20c in Hakone

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

Some days it’s more about the journey than the destination, and today was one of those days. Although the destination was also pretty amazing.

Today marked our departure from Tokayama after an extremely enjoyable (and surprising) stay. So we were up at about 6am, which allowed us just enough time to pack, have a dip in the onsen, and get breakfast before checking out of our ryokan and heading over to the station to catch the 9:36 am train to Nagoya. The train pulled in on time and we were sent off by banner-waving station staff, wishing us a happy journey. Perhaps the last of Takayama’s many surprises!

It was a really interesting journey – scenically magnificent as the train threaded its way alongside a deep ravine cutting through the mountains. The journey would not have been out of place in Switzerland. Eventually, after a couple of hours, we pulled into Nagoya – and much to my utter shock we were nine minutes late. (Though secretly it was quite reassuring to see that the fabled Japanese rail network could be just as fallible as those in the UK or Ireland).

The delay wasn’t a problem, as we had an hour to wait for our Shinkansen to Odawara – which we spent sitting on platform 14 admiring the jaw-dropping efficiency with which the trains rolled in and out, just like clockwork. Eventually ours arrived and we got on – along with hundreds of other tourists, for the short hop to Odawara. I should qualify “short” by noting that although the journey was only just over 1 hour long, according to Google maps it was some 270 km from Nagoya to our destination. Impressive timetabling.

Once at Odawara, we and all the other tourists got off. Not all the Shinkansens stop there, and as it’s the main entry-point for the Hakone hot springs area, the trains that do stop there tend to be very busy.

But this wasn’t the end of the journey. In fact the next stage was the trickiest, as we had to travel over a nearby mountain-range to our final destination by bus. Figuring out which bus we wanted, and where it went from, took some effort. Then when we found it eventually, explaining to the driver where we wanted to go and working out how to pay (fortunately Suica was accepted and you have to tap in and out on the bus. Predictably I hadn’t got enough credit on my card so Val had to cover my excess while I tried to top it up).

Unsurprisingly, the bus was packed with all the happy tourists that had just disgorged themselves from the train. It was standing room only and we were lucky to get two of the last seats. If we had arrived at the bust stop five minutes later, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have got on.

Soon we were underway and the bus wound its way over the mountain pass deeper into Hakone, getting seemingly fuller and fuller at every stop. This was probably because the cable car, which normally runs over the mountains, had been suspended due to high wind, leaving passengers stranded at various spots along its route. Eventually, after about an hour and a quarter, we arrived at Ubako – the closest stop to our ryokan – fifteen minutes late. We had arranged for a car to meet us and transfer us to our accommodation, and it duly rolled just as we got off the bus. So the last few minutes of our journey was our least stressful, by far.

Once at the Hakone Yuyado Zen ryokan, we were welcomed with glasses of champagne and fleeting views of Mt Fuji, when the clouds parted. Our room is super-comfortable and – best of all – it has its own private onsen on the balcony, heated to a steady 40°c by the local hot spring. So as soon as we were settled in, we immersed ourselves in the hot water and started to relax.

Dinner was an eight course Japanese gourmet banquet which was superbly prepared and presented and was actually delicious. Not too many unidentifiable sea creatures tonight, which came as a bit of a relief.

Anyway it’s time to call it a day. Although we have been sitting most of the time, it’s been quite hard work and mentally stimulating. So I’m calling it a day and signing off – while yet again silently giving thanks that we had decided to travel light and bring hand-baggage only

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Worked in traditional headgear tending to his paddy field – spotted from the train to Nagoya	Bento-box shop on Nagoya station – perfect for a tasty lunch to enjoy on the Shinkansen journey to Odawara

Here comes the squashed frog to take us to Odawara	On the J01 bus – standing room only. We got on early and were fortunate enough to get seats

On the bus over the mountain pass to Ubako. The air at this point reeked of sulphur and the vegetation had all been killed off – obviously still very volcanically active	Saying goodbye to our bus in Ubako – the middle of nowhere!

Made it! Celebratory drinks at the Hakone Yuyado Zen ryokan. Absolutely beautiful spot, with the summit of Mt Fuji drifting in an out of view through the scudding clouds. (Notice too that our bags are on the seats. We had put them on the ground near our table, but the staff came along and carefully placed them on nearby empty seats. This happened at the museum café yesterday, too – so I’m guessing it must be traditional in Japan not to put your luggage on the floor. We shall have to see if we have any recurrence on our travels.