Japan: Ōwakudani, views of Mount Fuji, and last night in Tokyo

Date: 31 March 2015

After a very relaxing bath at the Hotel Green Plaza onsen, I moved on to my next stop — the host springs of Ōwakudani. But these hot springs are not safe to soak yourself in due to high sulphur content.

Lake Ashi from Hakone ropeway — Lake Ashi, from the ropeway

Hakone ropeway Owakudani station — Ōwakudani station was the very next stop

Owakudani mountain Hakone Japan — This was the view from the ropeway station

Owakudani sulfur wells Hakone — There is a lot of volcanic activity deep underground

Steam production well Owakudani Hakone — But they are making the most of it

Owakudani trekking trail Hakone — This was a hiking trail

Owakudani hiking trail Hakone mountain — But I did not venture far as I saw no one trekking… plus I had no time for trekking

Owakudani natural hot springs Hakone — So I walked towards the hot springs

Qwakudani mountain height Hakone — 1050 metres above sea level

Owakudani sulphur warnings Hakone — The sulfur content is too high so there were signs asking people not to touch the water

Owakudani hot springs Hakone — Before walking towards the sulphur springs, I went inside the building housing the restaurants and souvenir shops

Black egg Owakudani Hakone Japan — I was curious to find out the significance of this black egg was

Black eggs Owakudani Hakone — Inside, you can buy eggs. You take the egg and boil it in the sulphur-rich water and the shell turns black it seems.

Owakudani sulphur hot springs Hakone — You could feel the heat as you got near to the sulphur pools… and you could smell it too!

Sulphur pool Owakudani Hakone Japan — Sulphur-rich water was murky and bubbling hot

Mount Fuji viewing point Japan — The other reason why Owakudani is a popular draw is for the viewpoint

Mount Fuji from Owakudani Japan — A view of Mount Fuji being the main draw, of course

Planes flying over Mount Fuji peak Japan — I swapped lenses to catch these two airplanes flying over Mt. Fuji

Man photographing Mt. Fuji Japan — Unfortunately, from this distance, you can’t really get a good photo of yourself with Fuji-yama in the background especially with clouds in the way

One thing I have experienced time and time again on my travels is that, when fellow tourists see me with a DSLR, they assume that I’m better at them at photography and ask me to take their photos using their cameras. I oblige sometimes but the problem is, when one reacts positively and compliments me for taking a good photo, then other tourists hear that and approach me with the same request. This went on for a while here.

Mithun Owakudani Fuji Japan — I asked a few of them to return the favour, but this is the best photo I got from one of the tourists who asked me to take their photos

Before more tourists could ask me, I quickly packed up my camera bag and left the mountain.

Hakone ropeway going down Japan — It was time to begin my departure from Hakone

Hakone cable car station Japan — I got off the pod at Sounzan station, which is the final stop at the Hakone Ropeway

Kami Gora Tram station Hakone Japan — You then board a tram at Kami Gora station which is close by

Tram pulling wheel gears Japan — These are the wheels that pull the tram up

Hakone tram mountain railtrack Japan — It was all downhill from here

Tram track Hakone Japan — A ‘station’ midway

Downhill tram Hakone hill Japan — It was wasn’t super steep but we still had to hold on to something

Hakone tram mountain train Japan — How tram overtaking happens

Arriving at Gora station Japan — Arriving at Gora station

Hakone Tozan railway Gora station — For the final leg, I now had to board the mountain train — the Hakone Tozan line — to get to Odawara station

Inside Hakone Tozan train — I didn’t have to pay for any of the rail or tram fares as I had the Hakone Pass

Hakone mountain road Japan — It’s quite a scenic journey

Hakone mountain forest Japan — You are still very high up

Hakone Tozan tunnel railway Japan — The train goes through a lot of tunnels

Hakone Tozan tunnel green light Japan — The train also moves very slowly

The entire journey took more than 30 minutes because of how slowly the train moved as it descended down the mountain. It also stopped at a few stations along the way.

Odawara station platform Hakone Japan — But I was at Odawara station, finally

Thus ending my visit to Hakone. I’m so glad I chose to come here. It was a relaxing way to end my Japan trip which was mostly focused on exploring the city landscapes. I can see why Hakone makes for a perfect weekend destination. And I recommend it to anyone who wants a break from Tokyo. It’s also a great place to experience an onsen.

From Odawara, it’s another train I had to hop on to get back to Tokyo station. As I sat in the train to Tokyo, I was amazed at how much emphasis this country has put into mass transit. Trains are everywhere! I know India has a much larger rail network but it’s not as branched out as the rail lines I’ve seen in Japan. Large rail line connects you to a small train line that connects with an even smaller rail line which you could use to get to your final destination. In every major Japanese city, the majority of the residents get around by rail — whether it be subway trains, overground metros, and suburban rail. Good roads are there, for sure, but they’re not as wide as roads are, in say, America.

Japan decided decades ago to invest heavily in trains, not airports. It’s why it pioneered the ‘bullet train’ in the 1960s. I admire that foresight and the thought that went in getting the masses moved. Quite unlike the corruption-driven decisions back in India to develop unnecessary flyovers in place of suburban rail.

Anyway, by the time I arrived at Shinjuku station, it was night time. As exited, I was informed by the station staff that I had to pay 880 yen extra since the Hakone Pass didn’t cover the train ride from Odawara to Tokyo, which is understandable.

Sushi dinner

As I headed back to the Taito area, I stopped by a conveyor belt sushi restaurant near Space Hostel. I was really hungry and it was kinda pathetic that I didn’t eat as much sushi in 9 days being in the country that is famous for it.

Nihonkai Kototoi sushi menu Tokyo — The restaurant is called Nihonkai Kototoi and they have English menus, which made it convenient to order

Sushi chefs conveyor belt restaurant — Even though the chefs placed a few sushi plates on the conveyor belt, I just ordered what I wanted and the chefs made it right in front of me

Mayo sushi roll Tokyo Japan — I started out with some pretty basic varieties — crab sticks salad (left) and Natto Maki (fermented soybeans sushi roll)

Eel sushi Tokyo Japan — Then moved on to Anago (conger eel, the left one) and Kanimayo (snow crab with mayonnaise)

Ebi sushi fat tuna Tokyo Japan — Then had prawn (left) and Chutoro (fatty tuna) — which was delicious

Each plate comes with two servings. So I had 16 pieces of sushi for ¥1350 (₹890/$13/€11) including taxes. So how are things priced? It’s by the plate. Observed the colour of the plates? The white plate is the cheapest, so all the sushi served on the white plates cost ¥88. The yellow options cost ¥141 and the red plates cost ¥245. At the time of billing, they just count the number of plates of each type and voila — you pay the total. Alternatively, many conveyor belt sushi restaurants now have such plates tagged with RFID, so when it comes time for billing, they just run a scanner across all the plates and tally the amount.

Watch this episode of Begin Japanology that talks about how Conveyor Belt Sushi and how they operate. It’s pretty interesting.

Feeling a bit full, I then walked around the neighbourhood one more time… just because I felt like it. Plus it’s completely safe to do so. This was my last night in Japan, so there was sad feeling creeping up on me knowing I had to leave this fascinating nation. I’ll leave my final thoughts for the next (and final) Japan post. For now, I picked up some dried seaweed and miso paste to take back to India.