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/