Field Card · Alice

Hakone — Mountain Hush

Wednesday 24 — Thursday 25 June 2026
箱根 はこね Hakone 山の静寂 mountain silence
Ryokan
Tensui SaryoKing + open-air bath · mountain view
Nights
1 nightWed 24 → Thu 25
FX
¥214 / £1cash useful here
Pass
Free Pass2-day · ¥7,100 · QR
The floating torii · Hakone Shrine, Lake Ashi — Mt Fuji beyond, if the mist lifts
¥ → £ Rate ≈ ¥214 / £1 ¥1,000 ≈ £4.67 ¥7,100 ≈ £33 (Free Pass) ¥10,000 ≈ £47 (cash to carry) Mountain rules: 2-day Free Pass QR covers the whole loop — rail, cable car, ropeway, pirate ship, buses · cash useful for small spots, bring ~¥10,000 · big bag already takkyubin'd to Kyoto, overnight bag only · onsen = wash first, no swimwear · plug type A

The Loop — one pass, seven modes, full circle

Yumoto → Gora → Sounzan → Owakudani → Togendai → cross Lake Ashi → Motohakone → bus home. Every leg is on the Pass; no single ticket all day.
01

Wednesday 24 June

Romancecar · the Hakone loop · into the ryokan
Shinjuku → Hakone
overnight bag only
Morning — down the Odakyu line
10:00
Romancecar Shinjuku → Hakone-Yumoto
Odakyu Line, Car 3 Seat 7D. Sit on the right for river views as the mountains close in. ~85 min.
Odakyu · Car 3 · 7D
¥1,200£6
Booked
11:27
Arrive Hakone-Yumoto 🗻 Map
Activate the 2-day Hakone Free Pass — QR ready on your phone. This covers the entire loop below.
Hakone-Yumoto · activate QR
¥7,100£33
2-day pass
Booked
11:45
Bag drop at Tensui Saryo
Leave the overnight bag, hold for 16:00 check-in. Travel the loop unburdened.
Tensui Saryo · bag hold
—
Midday — the hydrangea train + open air
12:00
Hakone Tozan switchback railway — the Ajisai Densha
Yumoto → Gora, ~50 min of switchbacks climbing the mountain. Late June is hydrangea season — the line is walled with blue-purple ajisai, close enough to touch. The reason this card is the colour it is.
Tozan rail · 紫陽花電車
—
Pass
13:00
Hakone Open-Air Museum 🗻 Map
Chokoku-no-mori station. Henry Moore and Picasso among the cedars, with the hot-spring foot bath in the middle of the sculpture park. Unhurried — an hour or so.
Chokoku-no-mori
¥1,600£7
entry
Afternoon — the volcanic valley + the lake
14:30
Cable car Gora → Sounzan
A short funicular up the slope to the ropeway base.
Sounzan
—
Pass
15:00
Ropeway over Owakudani 🗻 Map
Glide over the sulphur vents of the live volcanic valley. Buy the kuro-tamago — black eggs hard-boiled in the hot springs, shells blackened by sulphur. One is said to add seven years to your life.
Owakudani · 大涌谷
¥500£2
black eggs
Pass · ropeway
15:45
Continue to Togendai — Lake Ashi shore
The ropeway drops you at the water's edge.
Togendai
—
Pass
16:00
Pirate ship across Lake Ashi 🗻 Map
Togendai → Motohakone, ~30 min. Stand at the bow for the approach — the floating torii rises straight out of the water as you near the far shore.
Lake Ashi · 芦ノ湖
—
Pass
Golden hour — the shrine
16:45
Hakone Shrine + the floating torii 🗻 Map
The vermilion gate standing in the lake — the showstopper, and the quietest just before dusk once the day-trippers thin out. Walk up through the cedar avenue to the shrine itself. Collect the goshuin (the torii-motif seal) at the shrine office.
Motohakone · goshuin 御朱印
—
The shot
17:30
Bus back to Hakone-Yumoto
Closes the loop. ~35 min down the mountain road.
Hakone Tozan Bus
—
Pass
Evening — the ryokan
18:00
Check in at Tensui Saryo 🗻 Map
Yukata and tea on arrival. King room with its own open-air bath and a mountain view. This is where the trip exhales — Singapore and Tokyo's pace ends here.
Tensui Saryo · 天水茶寮
£211
kaiseki + breakfast incl.
Booked
19:00
Private onsen — in-room open-air bath
Before dinner, while it's still light over the mountains. No clock from here on.
In-room · 露天風呂
—
Included
20:00
Kaiseki dinner
The multi-course seasonal procession — sashimi, a simmered course, something charcoal-grilled, all built around what's in season this week. Eaten slowly, in your yukata. The centre of the whole stay.
Tensui Saryo · 懐石
—
Included

Kaiseki & ryokan rhythm

Meals come to you — set times, no menu to choose.
16:00+Check-in · yukata & welcome tea
~20:00Kaiseki dinner (in-room or dining room)
~07:30Kaiseki breakfast (in-room)
to 11:00Late check-out — don't rush it

Onsen quick-card

Your bath is private, but the rules are worth keeping.
  • Wash first. Rinse and scrub fully at the shower before getting in — the bath is for soaking, not cleaning.
  • No swimwear. Bathe bare; the small towel stays out of the water (rest it on your head).
  • Tie hair up so it's clear of the water.
  • Hydrate & go gently — the water's hot; step out if you feel light-headed.
02

Thursday 25 June

Slow ryokan morning · shinkansen to Kyoto
Odawara → Kyoto
Hikari · ~2 hrs
07:30
Kaiseki breakfast
Grilled fish, rice, miso, little dishes — the quiet counterpart to last night. Included.
Tensui Saryo
—
Included
09:00
Second onsen, slow morning
Don't rush this. One more soak, tea on the veranda, watch the mist move on the mountain. The whole point of Hakone is the not-rushing.
In-room
—
10:30
Check out
Late check-out available — use it. Bus down from Yumoto next.
Tensui Saryo
—
11:50
Switchback down Gōra → Odawara 🗻 Map
Gōra is the top terminus — one platform, every train heads down. Board the waiting train; signs read 箱根湯本 / 小田原 (Hakone-Yumoto / Odawara). ~40 min of switchbacks — the train reverses direction 3× (normal, stay on). At Hakone-Yumoto change to the Odawara-bound train (some through-run), ~15 min. Tap out with the Free Pass — it ends here.
Gōra → Odawara · Hakone Tozan
—
Pass
12:30
Shinkansen Odawara → Kyoto
At Odawara follow the gold 新幹線 / Shinkansen signs. The Free Pass does not cover this — buy the ticket at the JR machines or ticket office first. Through the separate Shinkansen gates, head for the westbound side: 名古屋・新大阪方面 (Nagoya / Kyoto / Osaka), not Tokyo. On the board find the 12:30 ひかり Hikari to Shin-Osaka and note your car number. Two platforms here (tracks 11–14) — confirm yours on the board. Reserve Side E (right) for Fuji, and grab an ekiben on the platform.
Odawara → Kyoto · Hikari
~£75
point-to-point
To book
14:30
Arrive Kyoto 🗻 Map
The mountain hush ends here. Switch to the Kyoto itinerary — big bag is already waiting, forwarded ahead from Tokyo.
Kyoto Station · 京都
—

Fuji-viewing chance window

Late June is wet and hazy — Fuji hides most days, so treat any sighting as a gift, not a plan. Best odds are early morning before the cloud builds: from the Owakudani ropeway (~15:00 is decent if it's clear) and across Lake Ashi near the torii. The cleanest full-mountain view is often from the shinkansen window (right / Side E) just after Odawara on the 25th. Don't chase it; if the mist stays, that's Hakone being Hakone.

🌧️

Mountain June · cool, wet, and that's the point

Hakone sits higher than Tokyo — reckon on 18–24°C, noticeably cooler in the evening, with the tail of the rainy season (tsuyu) meaning frequent drizzle and low cloud. Pack a light layer and a fold-up umbrella; the damp is exactly what makes the ajisai glow and the onsen feel right. Indoors at the ryokan you'll live in the yukata.

Field reference — the small but useful things

Ajisai — the mountain hydrangea that lines the Tozan railway in late June — gives this card its blue-purple. The one warm note is the torii at Hakone Shrine, standing in Lake Ashi.
Weather: Open-Meteo