Hakone

Hakone grew up around a road. It lay on the Tōkaidō, the great highway between Edo, today's Tokyo, and Kyoto, at a hard mountain crossing. So the government placed the Hakone Sekisho (関所) here, a strict checkpoint for everyone on the road. It served the shoguns during the Edo period (1603–1868). The guards watched for two things in particular: guns going into Edo, and women leaving it. The shoguns kept the wives of regional lords in Edo as hostages, and the checkpoint stopped them from slipping away. A rebuilt checkpoint still stands by the lake. It is a reminder of how closely the shoguns guarded the peace of those centuries.

Hakone sits in the crater of an ancient volcano, and the ground is still restless. Ōwakudani is a steaming valley full of sulphur vents. Here vendors sell eggs boiled black in the hot pools. Local tradition says each egg adds seven years to your life. Below lies Lake Ashi (芦ノ湖, Ashinoko). On a clear day, Mount Fuji rises behind the red torii gate of Hakone Shrine, which stands right in the water. Visitors loop through the area on a chain of small transport lines. There is a mountain train that zigzags up the slope, a cable car, a ropeway over the steaming vents and a boat across the lake. And everywhere you find onsen, natural hot springs. Hakone is one of Japan's best-loved hot-spring towns, and the mountain's own heat warms the baths of its inns.