Noisy Helleborine Street in a Quiet Forest: hiking to the peak of Mt. Mikuni of Hakone 箱根三国山 1

Pararge aegeria near Fukara Watergate.
It’s ubiquitous in Europe,
but does not appear in the list of native animal
by the Ministry of Environment of Japan.
So … where does it come from?

On the ridge of the crater the western side of Lake Ashinoko 芦ノ湖 has a nice toll road named Lake Ashinoko Skyline 芦ノ湖スカイライン. It would indicate the steepness of the crater slope: no space for paved automobile way to be built. Anyway, not only motor vehicles, but also hikers can enjoy the ridgeway of Lake Ashinoko. There is a trekking route along the toll road. Let’s do hiking today! It’s about 6 hours walk between Togendai Port 桃源台 and Hakone Port 箱根港 for Pirate’s Ship on the Lake. The peak of our today’s itinerary is Mt. Mikuni (ASL 1101.8m) 三国山. It’s a quiet walk with buzzing engine from Shizuoka side 静岡県 to the west ... The beginning for the itinerary is the same as we took for the Around Lake Ashinoko Walk in my post on June 9th. We come to Fukara Watergate 深良水門 where a true mountain road begins. Oh, important info: please use the toilet at Togendai. For today, the toilet points are only 3: one is at the Togendai Port, second one is at the Café near Yamabushi Pass 山伏峠, and the third was the end of the hiking road crossing Route 1. 6 hours and 3 toilets. You know what I mean.

Togendai Port now has an “entrance” to
Nerv for Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Secluded Tokyo-3 is supposed to be here ...
For today’s purpose,
Eva-inspired mineral water bottle sold
in the souvenir shop of the Port was really handy!

To Kojiri Watergate, then

To Fukara Watergate.

Signposts and a map for hiking course at Fukara Watergate.
We take a road on our right of the photo.

On our left is Fukara Watergate, and on our right there is a road going up. It is a stone-paved old mountainous road. The ancient aqueduct must have needed many people came and went between two communities bordering each other at the ridge of the crater. A paved road for commuters in the 17th century meant, I guess, stone road. We walked such old Tokaido 東海道 in my post on March 5, 2021.Do you remember at that time our itinerary went very slippery due to stone-paved highway? Welcome back! We meet it again for today's hike here … Later I chatted with a local lady about the stone-pavement of yesteryears in Hakone. She said “Yuck!” Of course. Maybe when people used the route so frequently the pavement could not have time for mosses all over ... About an hour later from Togendai Port, after conquering the stone paved steps, we arrive at Kojiri Pass 湖尻峠 (ASL 850m) where we meet the toll road for automobiles. Between Fukara Watergate and Kojiri Pass, it took about 20 minutes for me. The ASL for Lake Ashinoko is 724m. So, I gained about 125m in 20 minutes. Please guess the steepness of the stone-paved road, but not bad. Just persevere …

… yeah, it looks neat.

A warning in English. Do you see it!?

The end of stone pavement.

We go up this hiking road a bit, then,

meet Lake Ashinoko Skyline.
Please do not go over the fence
between the car road and our hiking course.
There’s high possibility of traffic accident.
The toll road is for drivers who want to
step on the accelerator in a winding mountain route.
Oh, rain or shine, we cannot view Mt. Fuji from here.

Signs for Kojiri Pass

We turn left at the Pass to the south.

From here, we walk the ridgeway that is a hiking road running more or less along the tool road. The route goes ups and downs in the forest. The toll road is hidden beyond the mass of sasa-bamboos or the like. Here and there, we’ve met warning signs which says “Beyond the bush is a toll road for motored vehicles only. Pedestrians are strictly forbidden to enter here.” Strangely, it’s a sort of security words: if something happens for us hikers, at least ambulances can come very near to us, can’t them? Good. The hiking road is often wide enough and fairly well maintained. It’s the course in the National Park! From Kojiri Pass, we soon enter the forest of large Japanese beech (Fagus Crenata) sometimes perhaps more than a meter in diameter. For the climate of Kanagawa Prefecture, we can meet such large beech trees between ASL 800m and 1600m. For a beech to reach 80cm in diameter it takes about 300 years in Kanagawa. We enjoy more than 300 years old forest here. Thanks to the bushes of bamboos, no smell of gasoline can reach to us. It’s a relaxing hiking road.

It begins like this,

then turns to this,

with sometimes steep climbs.

Beautiful old beech forest …

After about half an hour walk from Kojiri Pass, we’ll begin to meet successive large colonies of False Helleborine (Veratrum oxysepalum var. oxysepalum). In the middle of June they were more than 1m tall with lots of white flowers around the stem shoot up straight from wide oblong leaves. It’s, I would say, a strange scenery. I wished if they had sweet aroma, a psychedelic decoration along our hiking course would have been perfect. Alas, their flowers smelled horrible, like garbage. Perhaps it would appeal to the families of forest flies which hovering frantically around the False Helleborine. I recommend you guard your body with good insect repellent before reaching here.

Helleborine Street.
I tell you it’s not the only colony we met for today’s course.

In a photo, they look so elegant …

Wild Tall Stewartia we can meet often in the course.
The Tall Stewartia in Hakone Shrine is very famous,
but they are taken care of by priests there.
Here in the western ridge of the Ashinoko Crator,
they are really WILD and LARGE.
And still, their elegant red barks are outstanding …

Speaking of insects, today’s course in June had, at least for me, two great bonuses. One is a butterfly, Great Purple Emperor (Sasakia charonda), which is designated as Japanese National Butterfly. Before, the elegant lepidopteran was ubiquitous in mixed forests near human settlements in Tokyo and large cities. For its survival, it needs a substantial volume of forest. i.e. these days their presence in cities is none. But still in the westside of Lake Ashinoko, we can meet them in the area less than 1000m ASL. To tell you the truth, it was my first time meeting them in wild. I was so excited! Another brownie was a huge chorus of Euterpnosia chibensis, a cicada, around the peak of Mt. Mikuni, ASL1000m +. The Euterpnosia chibensis lives in large forest of broad-leaved trees. They cannot fly for long distances. With urbanization, inevitably, these days its habitat is very limited and they are extinct here and there. We rarely hear them sing, but once one adult imago starts to intone, the rest of the crowd begins competing each other at once. They also stop singing almost simultaneously at sunset. It is said when we enter a forest when the chorus of Euterpnosia chibensis goes on, it’s like the entire forest is singing … I met that around the peak of Mt. Mikuni in one weekend of June. Their voice was not singing, but shouting, I tell you. It was a deafening experience, seriously. In today’s course I did not bother the noise of car exhaust … Come to think of it, it might be because of theses cicadas … I uploaded my video with voices of Euterpnosia chibensis here. My microphone was not strong enough to catch their voice nicely … sorry … Hmmmmm, the first penguin or the first cicada. Why did the first one begin anyway?

A screen shot from my video capturing
flying Great Purple Emperor in Hakone!

The peak of Mt. Mikuni has this signpost,
surrounded by another colony of Helleborines,
with, at that time, deafening voices of cicada.

Actually, the entire route in June was adorned
by white petit flowers of Clinopodium multicaule.

Next week, I tell you my adventure descending from the peak of Mt. Mikuni. I found the atmosphere of the forest from the peak is slightly different from that of the forest we’ve come from Togendai. Please stay tuned!

The condition of the Hakone National Park is watched by Hakone Visitor Center of the Ministry of Environment. Their contact info is

Hakone Visitor Center of the Ministry of Environment 環境省箱根ビジターセンター
164 Motohakone, Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa, 250-0522

〒250-0522 神奈川県足柄下郡箱根町元箱根164
TEL：0460-84-9981
FAX：0460-84-5721 http://hakonevc.sunnyday.jp/english-info/

Watergate Scandal: a tale of two watergates for Lake Ashinoko of Hakone 箱根芦ノ湖

 

John 4:15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”


Lake Ashinoko 芦ノ湖 is the largest and the only natural lake in Kanagawa Prefecture. By the way, Kanagawa Prefecture is proud of ourselves for self-sufficiency in procuring tap water, which is very different from, say, Tokyo. Surely, the water of Lake Ashinoko is a part of our water supply system, isn’t it? Nay. Water rights of Lake Ashinoko are held by our western neighbor, Shizuoka Prefecture 静岡県. Even Hakone municipality cannot use the water of the Lake, except for tourism ships and small fisheries. The water out of taps in the hotels for this world-famous resort is from 20 underground aquifers in the town. Actually, we’ve visited one of the sources on September 22, 2017. That was Itari Forest イタリ水源林 that maintains the environment for Itari Pond in the Hakone Country Club. The water system Itari Pond belongs to is the water network for Sengokuhara Wetland 箱根仙石原 we’ve visited several times, the most recent ones are for 5th and 12th last months. Yeah, the system surely connects to Lake Ashinoko deep underground, but at least legally these water-supplies DO NOT come directly from the Lake. The HP of Hakone Town neatly describes the situation. “Hakone is blessed by rich forests and rain. They provide us delicious water from our underground.” Er, well. It is so, certainly. But when people first know the fact the water of Lake Ashinoko is the property of Shizuoka Prefecture, many say “What!? Is there any conspiracy? It sounds very unnatural and unfair!” Hmmmmmmmmm … the argument is half true. Let me explain.

The allowed usage of Lake Ashinoko now for Kanagawa

Itari Watersource Forest

The water plant for Hakone Township in Itari Water Source Forest

Inside of the water plant.
They process harvested water from the aquifer of Itari.

Another water pumping plant for Hakone town which is
on Kuzuryu-no-mori Therapy Road we’ve visited last week.
The town has 20 such stations for procuring potable water.

First, I explain to you the current situation of the water of Lake Ashinoko that could pour down to Hayakawa River 早川 reaching to Odawara City 小田原市. Until 1672, it naturally came out to Hayakawa River from the point of Kojiri Watergate 湖尻水門 we’ve visited on June 9th. Now Kojiri Watergate is practically closed. It opens only when storms bring tons of rain over the Lake up to the flood limit of 2.6m at the lakeshore observation point. Pitifully, even such organized arrangement did not exist until 2019 when monster typhoons destroyed infrastructure of Hakone Town. Before global warming, Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures could make do to overcome emergencies by ad-hoc phone conversations. Global warming let the mandarins realize their leisurely approach could not respond to the rapid escalation of crisis anymore. They’ve changed their ways. Early this month, June 2023, when a storm made the water of the Lake cross the threshold, the town issued evacuation order for the affected communities and opened the Gate automatically. Once the crisis was over, it was closed again and the “remnants” of Hayakawa River returned dry near the lake. Come to think of it, even with such arrangement Hayakawa soon has enough water reaching down to Sagami Bay 相模湾. Hakone is really a place of abundant water source forests and underground aquifers … That’s that. Before Japanese industrialization people used water from Hayakawa with closed Kojiri Watergate. Now in the 21st Century Hakone Town and Odawara City do not use Hayakawa River for their water sources, but build complicated water supply system from underground wells, and Sakawa 酒匂川 and Sagami Rivers 相模川 with artificial dam lakes. Not using Lake Ashinoko looks strange for sure.

Kojiri Watergate for Lake Ashinoko. Closed.

Outside the Watergate,
the remnants of Hayakawa River is like this …

but the flow becomes this much
some 6km down near Sengokubara Wetland.
In a sense, it’s amazing.

Iizumi Water Intake Weir 飯泉取水堰 over Sakawa River.
The water harvested here comes from
artificial Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖 and
the other water sources
including Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林.
This water is distributed all over Kanagawa Prefecture
including Yokohama and Kawasaki
where the water plants are on higher ground than the Weir.
Meaning?
For doing so,
Japanese use tons of fossil fuels
to pump up and send long distance H2O to the cities!

So, understanding the strangeness here requires knowing the history and geography. During Ashinoko Walk (my post for June 9th), we also passed Fukara Watergate 深良水門 beyond Kojiri Watergate. It is a historical place, designated as a “World Heritage Irrigation Structures” of ICID. The watergate is the beginning of Fukara (or Hakone) Irrigation 深良（箱根）用水 that was constructed from 1666 to 1671 and opened in 1672. The project was funded by the merchants of Edo (Tokyo). The aim of ancient and large civil engineering was to provide stable water supply to the communities on the slope of Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji surely has lots of snow, but its surface layer is made of fragile scoria where water penetrates deep down. That’s the reason why the mountain is so beautiful, but for those people who live there obtaining water for survival was always a serious problem. Then, at the beginning of the 17th century Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1863) was established. Tokugawa Family originated from the present-day Aichi Prefecture 愛知県, but the first Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, spent his early years in Suruga 駿河, contemporary Shizuoka City 静岡市, due to medieval politics of warlords (i.e., his papa and rivals). It made the area of Shizuoka Prefecture including the slope of Mt. Fuji sentimental hometown for the Shogunate Government. They kept the area under their direct control. Simultaneously for the security of Edo (Tokyo) the Shogunate allocated Hakone area under the control of one of their faithful subordinates who could watch in/out of Kanto Plain from/to the Western region. This person who was in charge of Hakone was allowed to have a fortress-like castle in Odawara, a luxury at that time, and kept special status in Shogunate government until 1863. For the warlord of Odawara, there was a good reason to make things easier for the western side of Hakone caldera. The exit for Fukara Irrigation was still in the territory for Odawara Warlord next to Shogun’s property. You see? Let’s start a large project in my garden whose exit immediately connected to the garden of my boss who needed some help from my land!

Fukara Watergate

The water of the Lake comes in the Watergate, then,

Gushes down to Shizuoka Prefecture, 24/7.

The Tunnel of the Irrigation,
piercing the Hakone Caldera to the west.

The Fukara Irrigation started from Fukara Watergate indeed helped the communities from starvation in the slope of Mt. Fuji, which is in the present-day Susono City 裾野市. Helping villagers was a great achievement of ancient civil engineering. But villagers on the eastern side of the Caldera was not completely happy with the arrangement. During Shogunate, they had a special status in the government for the security of Edo, and received several bonuses from Shogun. They could shut their mouths. After the Shogunate gone, villagers in Hakone lost their brownies from observing water of the Lake going to somewhere. Besides, Sengoku Area was not good for rice cultivation et al. The community there was also poor as their western neighbor. In 1895 Hakone people tried to end the exclusive water right for the villages in Shizuoka Prefecture. They voluntarily started another construction that could divert water flow from Fukara Watergate. A lawsuit followed. The villagers of both sides of the Caldera fought. It ended in the highest court of Japan at that time. The Court ordered to build a compromise structure that could lower the amount of water going to Shizuoka side. The arrangement had never materialized. I guess they did not have enough money … Hakone Town suffered many times lake floods due to their awkward status for the management of Kojiri and Fukara Watergates. As of June 2023, the cheerily PR pages for Fukara Irrigation system comes only from municipalities of Shizuoka side (like here or here). The matter is still a tricky concern.

The sign says “KEEP OUT! DANGER!”
at Fukara Watergate …

OK, well, but there might be happening a change. For one thing, the opening Kojiri Gate early this month was executed quietly under the thunderous storm rain. Global warming does not give leeway for human feeling or else to avoid a catastrophe. Anyway, Hakone is now a world famous + luxurious resort town. So far scarcity of water, including hot spring water for tourists, is not a problem in the area. Adding one more tourist attraction like World Heritage site is not a bad thing for the business. Else, say, if the water going to Shizuoka now came to Kanagawa side, what would happen for the environment, including national treasure Sengokubara Wetland, that has evolved for these 350 years and reached the current condition? It might be about time to settle the feeling in a peaceful way.

Next week, let’s walk the slope where Fukara Irrigation penetrates beneath. It’s a quiet hike. I enjoyed it a lot.

The condition of the Hakone National Park is watched by Hakone Visitor Center of the Ministry of Environment. Their contact info is

Hakone Visitor Center of the Ministry of Environment 環境省箱根ビジターセンター

164 Motohakone, Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa, 250-0522
〒250-0522 神奈川県足柄下郡箱根町元箱根164
TEL：0460-84-9981
FAX：0460-84-5721
http://hakonevc.sunnyday.jp/english-info/

EastEnders: walking Eastshore of Lake Ashinoko of Hakone 箱根芦ノ湖

 

When the Westshore route becomes paved car-accessible one, we’re in Prefectural Road 737. From there, for today’s itinerary (almost) entire course is paved, and my choice of jogging shoes was apt. Soon we meet with Komagata Shrine 箱根駒形神社 that is said to have been there before Hakone became the crucial post town for Tokaidoh 東海道 connecting Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. We turn left at the corner of Komagata Shrine (town hall people standing-by for the direction), go through a quiet residential area for 5 minutes or so, and enter the tourism park area of the Southshore. In a fine weekend of May, it’s THE congested place. In order to complete the event at Seisa Arena 星槎アリーナ before 16:00, please do not expect to have lunch at Bakery&Table, or La Terazza unless you have reservation (and arrive there on time; I failed). Better bring your own lunch, I tell you. The route for the event is first go through the Park area of Hakone Port 箱根港 with the Pirate Ship, then walk through Hakone Checkpoint 箱根関所. The Checkpoint is a historical museum that was an uber-important security zone for the defense of Edo and the Tokugawa ShogunateGovernment. I’ll return it someday in this blog, but today just go through the Checkpoint fast as we have roughly 9 km to go before the gate is closed in Seisa Arena. Oh, normally, we have to buy a ticket for Hakone Checkpoint (; it’s a museum!). For the participants of the Event, the cost is included in the entry fee. We can just enter and walk through.

The beginning of Route 737 is like this.

Komagata Shrine

Townhall people are there for us.

Entering the Park

Er … almost everybody in Japan knows this scenery.
This is the goal/start for Hakone Ekiden,
at one of the entrances of the Park we’ve come.
It‘s THE championship long-distance road relay race
 for Japanese colleges, held on
every January 2nd (from Tokyo Otemachi to Hakone)
 and 3rd (from Hakone to Tokyo Otemachi).
 The Entire race is live-broadcasted,
 and everybody watches at least a snippet
 of the game during the New Year Holiday.
It‘s like Superbowl for the US.

So, there is the museum for Hakone Ekiden
next to the above photo place.

Ditto.

The approach to Hakone Checkpoint Museum.
There are lots of souvenir shops, and venders for snacks.

The entrance to the Checkpoint

Inside. See you later!
(Actually, I came here many many times
when I was a primary school kid, with family, friends, ...)

The other side of the Checkpoint leads to ...

The parking to Onshi-Hakone Park.

The exit of Hakone Checkpoint Museum is at the front gate of Onshi-Hakone Park 恩賜公園. From there, we had dived into the remnants of old Tokaido that we visited on February 5, 2021. We go through the cedar street preserving ancient mountainous artery road, and return to the shore at Motohakone Port 元箱根港. Simply navigate the small pedestrian road along the lake shore with lots of tourists. After a small detour to the car road in front of the busy entrance to Kinomiya Shrine 来宮神社, I encountered a VERY long line of people who tried to take a picture at Heiwa-no-Torii … Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, yap, it would be a nice photo for your Instagram as a memory of holiday in Japan after one hour waiting … I simply walked a space beside the long line, and the pedestrian road returned quiet with the sound of lapping water on the slope of caldera lake. After another detour to a car road, this time about 1.5km walk in front of the Price Hakone Ashinoko Hotel and the station for Hakone Komagatake Ropeway, we enter Hakone Kuzuryu-no-mori Therapy Road.

The old cedar street of Hakone

In the old cedar street,
May is the time for Elatostema japonica to flower. 😊

Returning to the lakeshore Park.

The sign for the participants of the Event, “This Way.”

And we meet this VERY long line for

taking photos here.

Beyond the crowd of tourists is a quiet pedestrian road ...

with the lakeshore just beneath.
It was a time for Japanese flowering dogwood
to have white flowers.

The pedestrian route joins with the commuter road.
It‘s the start of 1.5km of such way.

Lake Ashinoko is popular for Japanese smelt fishing.
Along our route today,
Fisheries Cooperative has nursery for  their juvenile fish.
They release them to the lake,
which brings them commercial success
famous among fishery industry of Japan.

The beginning of Hakone Kuzuryu-no-mori Therapy Road

“Therapy Road” is a copy-righted moniker by Forest Therapy Society of Japan. For using the designation, municipality must organize and manage the road that is suitable for quiet strolling in forest without disturbance of cars or the like. Once we enter Kuzuryu-no-mori Therapy Road, we don’t have to be attentive for cars. It is a relaxing 3km walk with slight ups and downs of paved street. On our left is always Lake Ashinoko. I realized the slope here from the ground to the lake was still very steep. It’s a lake created by volcanic eruption indeed. In the middle of the Road is the entrance to the Sanctuary of Kuzuryu Shrine 九頭竜神社. According to the Town Hall people who was at the gate of the Shrine for us to navigate the course of the event, it takes about 1 hour to stroll the sanctuary-cum-park. I realized I didn’t have enough time before the Event gate was closed. I’ll try there again sometime, and report you my adventure in this blog … The end of the Therapy Road is Kojiri Terminal 湖尻 for Pleasure Cruise in Lake Ashinoko. From there go along the bus road for commuter service, and we arrive at the Togendai Port 桃源台 where the Pirate Ship comes. It’s the point where we crossed Prefectural Road 75 in the morning. For the goal of the Event we simply took the same road we descended. I departed Seisa Arena at 8:30 and returned there around 14:30. For 21km of half mountainous road, 6 hours of walk with lunch is more or less average, I think.

Scenic view of Lake Ashinoko from the Therapy Road

A tranquil 3km

I didn’t have time to visit the sanctuary of Kuzuryu Shrine …

Again, lots of Clematis japonica!

A colony of Galium kikumugura.
By the way, they are on the endangered list for Tokyo.

The end of the Therapy Road at Kojiri Terminal

Walking further the pedestrian road leads us to

Togendai Port

The other side of the Port is
the steps we descended in the morning.
From here, it’s one way climb to the goal.

Bear from the Red Cross was waiting for us.

Next week, I’ll tell you the peculiar story of two Watergates we passed during the event. Even among locals of Kanagawa Prefecture, there is a sort of misunderstanding for the issue. I explain about it. Please stay tuned!

The event is organized by Hakone Townhall, but the condition of the Hakone National Park is in the end watched by Hakone Visitor Center of the Ministry of Environment. Actually, the center is next to Seisa Lake Arena. The contact info for the Visitor Center is

Hakone Visitor Center of the Ministry of Environment 環境省箱根ビジターセンター
164 Motohakone, Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa, 250-0522

〒250-0522 神奈川県足柄下郡箱根町元箱根164
TEL：0460-84-9981
FAX：0460-84-5721

http://hakonevc.sunnyday.jp/english-info/