Hakone

During the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868) this town was an important stop off on the old Tokaido, the route which connected Kyoto to the new capital of Edo, now Tokyo.


At the base of Kamisan (God Mountain) lies lake Ashi, pretty much the centre of our long awaited break.


However, a surprisingly constant companion was the notoriously elusive Mount Fuji.


I still find it astounding that such a prominent mountain can be so difficult to spot. Our excursion last autumn to the Five Lakes region, at the very base of Fuji, gave us only this vague glimpse.


Fuji cheered us home on the way back to Kawasaki, its' unmistakable silhouette standing out against the orange sunset like a massive mound of mashed potato.

This trip was all about relaxing, which we did in style at the Fuji-Hakone Guest House, truly worthy of the plug. After the madness of commuting on a friday night from Kawasaki, we stepped off the bus into the mountains, fresh air and utter silence. Within an hour, we were in a rotenburo, unconcerned about the rain beause of the geothermally heated water. One drawback of bathing in volcanic springs is that you will reek of sulphur for days to come.

Hakone also, surprisingly, contained a museum dedicated to the novel Le Petit Prince.



The story being a memory from childhood, it was great to find this place, but one wonders what the hell a museum devoted to one book by a Frenchman is doing in a mountain town in Japan.