Hakone

Hakone region encompasses an enormous national park, and is host to soem of the best Tokyo-getaway onsen, and some spectacular views of Mt. Fuji.

We bought an Odakyu rail "Hakone Freepass" which takes you to Odawara from where you can take a bus to Motohakone. (If you want to go the other direction on the Freepass recommended tour, you could continue by train to Gora.

From Motohakone, a short walk up to Hakone Jinja Shrine reveals a breath-taking Shinto shrine in striking red.

The scale and impact of the torii gates was best appreciated from the water, where one could imagine the arrival of honoured guests. Impressive on land, though, was the beauty of proportion in the way the shrine fit its environment.

Walking the cedars trail from Motohakone to Hakonemachi (passing the Shogun checkpoint) warmed me up, and I was ready to at last board the famed Lake Ashino Pirate Ship.

Even on a chilly day in February there are some beautiful landscapes from the deck of the ship.

Cable Cars run from the pirate boat terminus at Togendai up to the top of a sulfur fuming mountain at Sounzan. If you're lucky with weather, the view of Mt. Fuji from the Cable Cars is pretty spectacular. The fumeroles evidence the hotsprings for which the area has been known for several centuries.

Sulphur is evidently being mined here (by open evaporation by the looks). Not to be missed are the black eggs, shipped in suspended baskets up to be boiled in an open vent and consumed by the thousands by visitors to the site.

It's said that each egg eaten can add seven years to your life .

We weren't going to miss out on that kind of life extention.