is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. , the town had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 11,293 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

and views of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

Geography

Hakone is located in the mountains in the far west of the prefecture, on the eastern side of

Hakone Pass The Hakone Pass (), is a mountain pass located between Hakone, Kanagawa, and Kannami, Shizuoka, Japan. It is in the Hakone Mountains and its elevation, 846 meters above sea level. General The Hakone Pass has been an important pass that must be ...

. Most of the town is within the borders of the volcanically active

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is a national park in Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa Prefectures, and western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It consists of Mount Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park covers . Rat ...

, centered on

Lake Ashi , also referred to as Hakone Lake or Ashinoko Lake, is a scenic lake in the Hakone area of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, Japan. It is a crater lake that lies along the southwest wall of the caldera of Mount Hakone, a complex volcano that la ...

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture *

Odawara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western por ...

* Yugawara * Minami-ashigara Shizuoka Prefecture' *

Gotemba is a city on the southeastern flank of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,370 in 36,096 households, and a population density of 450 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography ...

Susono 270px, Susono with Mount Fuji is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 51,216 in 21,858 households, and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area of the city is . ...

* Mishima * Oyama * Kannami

Climate

Hakone has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hakone is 13.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2221 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.9 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Hakone has grown relatively steadily until the 1970s and is now slightly declining.

History

Hakone is the location of a noted

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...

, the Hakone Gongen, which is mentioned in

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

literature. During the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himse ...

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

prayed at this shrine for victory over his enemies, after his defeat at the

Battle of Ishibashiyama The was the first in which Minamoto no Yoritomo, who became ''shōgun'' less than a decade later, was commander of the Minamoto forces. The battle was fought on September 14, 1180, in the southwest of present-day Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, ...

, which was fought in neighboring Manazuru. As with the rest of

Sagami Province was a province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu, Musashi, and Suruga. It had access to the Pac ...

, the area came under the control of the

later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply Hōjō (北条) but in order to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan with the s ...

during the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. After the start of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, Hakone-juku was a post station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

. It was also the site of a major barrier and official checkpoint on the route known as the , which formed the border of the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...

. Under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, all travellers entering and leaving Edo along the Tōkaidō were stopped here by officials and their travel permits and baggage were examined to enforce Tokugawa laws that restricted the travel of women and weapons. After the start of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Hakone became a part of the short-lived

Ashigara Prefecture Ashigara may refer to: * Ashigara Pass in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan * Mount Ashigara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan * Ashigara Station (Kanagawa), a railway station in Odawara, Kanagawa, Japan * Ashigara Station (Shizuoka), a railway station in Oya ...

before becoming part of Ashigarashimo District in Kanagawa prefecture in August 1876. Hakone attained town status in 1889. The imperial household established the summer Hakone Imperial Villa close to the lake. During the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the area developed into a summer resort for the wealthy of Tokyo and the foreign settlement in Yokohama. After merger with five neighboring towns and villages in September 1956, it reached its present boundaries.

Government

Hakone has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

town council of 14 members. Hakone, together with neighboring Manazuru and Yugawara, contributes one member to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of

Kanagawa 16th district Kanagawa 16th district is a political district in northwestern Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, represented in the national government's House of Representatives. Its constituency includes parts of Sagamihara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture ...

of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

Economy

The economy of Hakone is strongly dominated by the tourist industry. Hakone is noted for its

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

resorts, which attract both Japanese and international visitors, due to its proximity to the greater

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

metropolis and to

. Sights include the volcanically active

Ōwakudani is a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was created around 3,000 years ago, as a result of the explosion of the Hakone volcano. It is a popular tourist site for its scenic vi ...

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only i ...

s and Hakone Shrine on the shore of the lake, as well as the

Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands The is a botanical garden located within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park at 817 Sengokuhara, Hakone, Kanagawa, Japan. It is open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged. The garden was founded in 1976, and now contains some ...

. In April the cherry blossoms (''

sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

'') and in autumn the

Miscanthus sinensis ''Miscanthus sinensis'', the eulalia or Chinese silver grass, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, native to eastern Asia throughout most of China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. Description It is an herbaceous perennial gras ...

(''susuki'') are noted sights. Hakone has a number of art museums, including the

Hakone Open-Air Museum The Hakone Open-Air Museum (箱根彫刻の森美術館, Hakone Choukoku no Mori Bijutsukan) is Japan's first pen-air museum opened in 1969 in Hakone in Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It has collections of artworks made ...

and

Pola Museum of Art is located in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It opened in September 2002 within Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. It houses the collection of over 9,500 works acquired by the former head of the Pola cosmetics group, including many works of Fre ...

. Major events include the annual JLPGA CAT Ladies Golf tournament and the

Hakone Ekiden , officially called the , is one of the most prominent university '' ekiden'' (relay marathon) races of the year held between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan on January 2 and 3. The race is telecast on Nippon Television. This two-day race from Ōtemachi ...

, a long distance collegiate foot race, held at the New Year, which runs from

to Hakone and back over two days, partly in commemoration of the couriers who ran the Tōkaidō road. One famous hotel in Hakone is the historic

Fujiya Hotel The is a historic hotel in Miyanoshita in Hakone, Kanagawa, Japan. History The hotel was constructed in 1891 and consists of different sections constructed in a mixture of traditional Japanese and western architecture that was popular during ...

in Miyanoshita, which was patronized by noted literary figures, politicians and foreign dignitaries in the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa eras. A noted local handicraft is a kind of

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case fur ...

called Yosegi. Hakone is also well-known among

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

fans for being the main location in the manga and anime series ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion ...

'', in which it has been renamed Tokyo-3, and there are numerous attractions related to the franchise offered in the town. In 2017, Hakone was included as one of 88 anime pilgrimage sites for 2018 by the Anime Tourism Association. In 2020, new decorations have been introduced to the city in the anticipation of the release of the final film of the ''

Rebuild of Evangelion ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', known in Japan and on Amazon Prime Video as , is a Japanese animated film series and a retelling of the original ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' anime television series, produced by Studio Khara. Hideaki Anno served as t ...

'' tetralogy.

Education

Hakone has three public elementary schools and one public middle schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a public high school. There are also two private elementary schools, one private middle school, and one private high school. ( Kanrei Shirayuri Gakuen Junior/Senior High School). The private

Seisa University is a private distance learning university with headquarters in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is ...

also has a campus in Hakone.

Transportation

Railway

and Mishima, the terminus of the

Odakyū Odawara Line The is the main line of Japanese private railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway. It extends 82.5 km from Shinjuku in central Tokyo through the southwest suburbs to the city of Odawara, the gateway to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. ...

, 70 minutes from

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

, Tokyo. From Odawara, the

Hakone Tozan Line The is a mountain railway in Japan operated by the Hakone Tozan Railway. The company belongs to the Odakyu Group, which also owns the Hakone Tozan Cable Car. The section of the line from Odawara Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station began ope ...

continues into various resort towns in Hakone.

Odakyu , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its '' Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company ...

also runs the Romancecar limited express between

and Hakone-Yumoto. From Gōra, the terminus of Hakone Tozan Line, the Hakone Tozan Cable Car funicular goes to Sōunzan.

can be reached by Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan and the lake, while the lake is crisscrossed by cartoonishly decorated "pirate" ships for tourists. There is also

Hakone Komagatake Ropeway The , officially the , is a Japanese aerial lift line in Hakone, Kanagawa, operated by Izu Hakone Railway. The line, opened in 1963, climbs Mount Koma ( 駒ヶ岳) from the Lake Ashi lakeside. From 1957 to 2005 Izu Hakone Railway also operated ...

, which goes to the top of Mount Komagatake. A popular "Hakone Free Pass", allowing unlimited use of most forms of transport for several days, is available. Hakone Free Pass can be bought at Shinjuku Station, Odawara Station, any other chief station along Odakyū Odawara Line, Hakone-Yumoto Station, Gōra Station, any other chief station along Hakone Tozan Line, Sōunzan Station,

Tōgendai Station is a terminal on the Hakone Ropeway in the town of Hakone, Kanagawa, Japan. It is from the Hakone Ropeway's opposing terminus at Sōunzan Station. It is located at an altitude of in the Togendai area of Hakone. Lines Tōgendai Station is se ...

, Sengoku-Annaijo Bus Stop, Moto-Hakone Port, Hakone-Machi Port, and JR

Gotemba Station is a railway station on the Gotemba Line in the eastern part of the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It is one of the gateway stations to Mount Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes (including L ...

Bus Information. * Hakone Tozan Railway ** - - - - - - * Hakone Tozan Cable Car ** - - - - - * Hakone Ropeway ** - - -

Highways

* Hakone Shindō * * * Hakone Turnpike *

Ashinoko Skyline Ashinoko Skyline () or Lake Ashi Skyline, is a 10.75 km toll road in Kanagawa, Japan, connecting National Route 1 near Hakone Pass, with Kojiri on the northern shores of Lake Ashi. The entire length of Ashinoko Skyline opened in 1972, and ...

Sister cities

* Tōyako, Hokkaidō, since July 4, 1964 *

Jasper, Alberta Jasper is a specialized municipality and townsite in western Alberta within the Canadian Rockies. The townsite is in the Athabasca River valley and is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park. History Established in 1813, Jasper ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

from July 4, 1972 * Taupo,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, from October 7, 1987 * St. Moritz,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, from November 2, 2014 (Friendship City)

Gallery

Image:Hakone, hand-colored print 1860-1900.jpg, Hakone, hand-colored print 1860–1900 Image:HakoneTorii2.jpg, Torii of the shrine in Hakone, at Lake Ashi Image:Yumoto_onsen.jpg, Yumoto Onsen, Meiji era Image:HakoneDai0085.jpg, The summer festival in Hakone includes a bonfire in the shape of the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

大 (''dai'') and fireworks Image:AshiNoKo.jpg, Lake Ashi Image:View of Mount Fuji from Lake Ashi.jpg, Lake Ashi pirate ship Image:Hakone no Seki 20211202.jpg, Panorama vew of ancient Hakone Barrier area and

Image:Hakone yumoto onsen 2.jpg, Hakone Yumoto Spa area

References

External links

Official Website

Portal Website
* {{Authority control Towns in Kanagawa Prefecture