Hakone - Japan
20th June 2019
2019 saw my first trip back to Japan in 17 years. During that visit we spent some time with my wife’s best friend and her husband in Hakone, a very popular tourist seaside location just outside of Tokyo.
My wife on the steps looking back to tell me to hurry up.
When you like to make photos you get used to lagging behind, as you will see a lot in Hakone. They would often just walk off giving up on me :) That forest above is the entrance to steps up a hill to a temple.
Before my wife walked off again I asked who the names were on the fence. She told me that they are of local people that have contributed to the care of the area.
Temple at the top of the steps
I will show you the steps up on the way back down to the water but this is the temple when you get to the top. It was not overly busy on the day we visited so we could take our time and of course observe some traditions with donations and prayer.
My wife praying.
Notice in the photo above that the columns to the side are that darker colour of the main entrance in the previous photo where as the shrine is a brighter colour similar if not the same as the big Japanese gates.
From my experience Japanese pretty much all conform when it comes to shrines and customs regardless if they are religious or not. One of the things that you will notice in Japan is the lack of graffiti and vandalism at places like this, or anywhere for that matter.
Everything at this temple was so clean and pristine. The detail in everything is just so amazing but that is the Japanese way. So much emphasis on the small details.
Just inside the entrance to the Temple they had one of these walls of knotted paper that you see quite often in Japan. My wife tells me that these are a sort of fortune reading that people receive when they give to the temple.
The steps back down to the water
Time to head back down the steps Right at the bottom of the steps you can see the waterside…… and once again I was being left behind :)
Our friends leading the way
Back at the base of the steps we crossed the road to the water and another of those huge Japanese gates. If you love those gates then you will love this place as they are everywhere.
Not far from the temple along the water front was the Hakone Komagatake cable car which we planned to go up. But as you can see from the photo the day we were there was a bit cloudy and prone to the odd shower.
With the waterfront so beautiful it was decided to take the risk of rain and walk to the cable car. Once again they walked off and left me behind.
Above are some of the photos that I took on the walk over to the cable car. Each time I stopped I had to run to catch up. My wife is a fast walker.
A photo from inside the cable car.
By the time we were on our way up the cable car the weather was starting to get really bad. Little did we know what was to come.
The view from the top back down.
When we arrived at the top the visibility was almost none. Normally you would walk around outside once at the top but on this day the weather was so bad that due to the fear of lightning strikes we were not allowed to go outside.
The pathways at the top…for another visit.
Out there somewhere are some buildings that you can walk out to along the pathways. With the lightning about this would be as close as I would get :(
It was time to head back to our very special accommodation. I will write about that soon.