Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
comes in a miso-base soup (¥550).
Mon-Sat 11am-2pm.
Michael's American Pub
3-21-37 Shimoyoshida
T
0555 24 3917,
W
www.mfi.or.jp/michael.
If you're
staying overnight in Fuji-Yoshida, a warm welcome here
is guaranteed. The atmosphere can be surprisingly
genki
(“energetic” is the closest English word) given the location;
simple snacks are on offer alongside a modest range of
drinks.
Mon-Wed, Fri & Sun 11.30am-4pm & 7pm-
2am, Sat 7pm-2am.
decent
hōtō
(¥1050) and a range of tasty Japanese food;
try the
basashi
(raw horse meat; ¥1050).
Daily 11am-9pm.
Ì
Kosaku
খ࡞
1638-1 Kawaguchiko-chō
T
0555 72
1181.
Though it's not very conveniently located, it's well
worth hunting down this large, cabin-like restaurant if
you're staying the night in Kawaguchi-ko. It serves the best
hōtō
in town (from ¥1100); fillings include duck, mush-
room, seafood and even bear, but traditional types favour
the sweet pumpkin.
Daily 11am-9pm.
Think
6837 Kawaguchiko-chō
T
0555 73 1551.
A great
café, restaurant and bar rolled into one cool whole. There's
internet access and an area where you can play with the
owner's radio-controlled model cars.
Daily except Tues
11am-1am.
KAWAGUCHI
KO
Hōtō Fudo
΄͏ͱ͏ෆಈ
Train station plaza
T
0120
41 0457.
Right in front of the train station in a building with
a wooden panelled exterior, this small restaurant serves
Hakone
ശࠜ
South of Mount Fuji and 90km west of Tokyo is the
HAKONE
lakeland, mountain and
onsen area, always busy at weekends and holidays. Most visitors follow the well-
established day-trip route, which is good fun and combines rides on several trains or
buses, a funicular, a cable car and a sightseeing ship, styled as a seventeenth-century
galleon, across the
lake
, Ashino-ko. However, the scenery is so pretty, and there's so
much else to do - from seeing great art at the Hakone Open-Air Museum and the Pola
Museum of Art to soaking in numerous onsen - that an overnight stay is encouraged.
Weather permitting, you'll also get great views of nearby Mount Fuji.
The traditional day-trip itinerary, described below, runs anticlockwise from
Hakone-
Yumoto
, gateway to the
Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park
, then over
Mount Sōun
, across
the length of
Ashino-ko
to
Moto-Hakone
, and back to the start. Approaching Hakone
from the west, you can follow a similar route clockwise from Hakone-machi, on the
southern shore of Ashino-ko, to Hakone-Yumoto.
20
Hakone-Yumoto
ശࠜ౬ݩ
HAKONE-YUMOTO
, the small town nestling in the valley at the gateway to the Fuji-
Hakone-Izu National Park, is marred by scores of concrete-block hotels and
bessō
,
vacation villas for company workers, not to mention the usual cacophony of souvenir
shops. It does, however, have some good
onsen
which are ideal for unwinding after a
day's sightseeing around the park.
Tenzan Notemburo
ఱࢁఱ෩࿊
• Off Hakoneshindō, Oku-Yumoto, 2km southwest of town • Daily 9am-11pm • ¥1200; wooden baths additional
¥200/1000 weekdays/ weekends • Free shuttle bus from bridge north of Hakone-Yumoto station
The most stylish bathhouse in the area is
Tenzan Notemburo
, a luxurious public onsen
complex 2km from town. The main building has outdoor baths for men and women,
including waterfalls and jacuzzis in a series of rocky pools. There's also a clay-hut sauna
for men, and for an extra charge both men and women can use the wooden baths in
the building across the car park.
Miyanoshita
ٶůԼ
Rising up into the mountains, the Hakone-Tozan switchback railway zigzags for nearly
9km alongside a ravine from Hakone-Yumoto to the village of Gōra. There are small
traditional inns and temples at several of the stations along the way, but the single best
