is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 10,965, and total area of . Hakone is a notable

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

and a popular tourist destination due to its many

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

being within view of nearby

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

, the most visited mountain in Japan.

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 b ...

. 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 last ...

Surrounding municipalities

Kanagawa Prefecture * Minami-ashigara *

Odawara is a Cities of Japan, 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 ...

Yugawara is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 23,267 and a population density of 570 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Yugaw ...

Shizuoka Prefecture * Gotemba *

Kannami is a town located in Tagata District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 37,782 in 16,401 households and a population density of 580 persons per km². The total area of the town was . Geography Kannami is ...

Mishima Mishima may refer to: Places * Mishima, Fukushima, a town in Fukushima Prefecture * Mishima, Kagoshima, a village in Kagoshima Prefecture * Mishima, Niigata, a town in Niigata Prefecture * Mishima, Shizuoka, a city in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japa ...

* Oyama * Susono

Climate

Hakone has a very

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(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 peaked around the year 1970 and has declined since.

History

Hakone is the location of the Hakone Gongen, a noted

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

literature. During the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, 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 Yori ...

, after his defeat at the Battle of Ishibashiyama in neighboring Manuzuru,

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

prayed at this shrine for victory over his enemies. As with the rest of

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

, 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 , but were called "Later Hōjō" to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan who h ...

during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. After the start of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. 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 geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

. Under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, Hakone became a part of the short-lived Ashigara Prefecture 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 was 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 colonizatio ...

, the area developed into a summer resort for the wealthy of Tokyo and the foreign settlement in Yokohama. After a 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

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 an electoral district for the Japanese House of Representatives located in Kanagawa Prefecture. The district covers the cities of Atsugi is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

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

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

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

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

metropolis and to

. Sights include the volcanically active Ōwakudani

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring with an intermittent water discharge ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. The formation of geysers is fairly rare and is caused by particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places on Ea ...

s and Hakone Shrine on the shore of the lake, as well as the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands. In April the cherry blossoms (''

sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

'') 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 most of East Asia (China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea) and Southeast Asia (the Philippines, eastern Indonesia, Mala ...

(''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''), opened in 1969, is Japan's first open-air museum. It is located in Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture. Hosting over 1,000 piece ...

and Pola Museum of Art. 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 Ōtemac ...

, 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, 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 popula ...

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 wood veneer, veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or designs. The technique may be applied to case furn ...

called Yosegi. Hakone is also well known among

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

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

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from October 1995 to March 1 ...

'', 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 were introduced to the city in the anticipation of the release of the final film of the '' Rebuild of Evangelion'' tetralogy.

Education

Hakone has three public elementary schools and one public middle school 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 also has a campus in Hakone.

Transportation

Railway

and

, the terminus of the

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

, 70 minutes from

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

, Tokyo. From Odawara, the

Hakone Tozan Line The is a mountain railway in Japan operated by Odakyu Hakone, an Odakyu Group company that also owns the Hakone Tozan Cable Car. The section of the line from Odawara Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station began operating in 1919, with the current t ...

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 f ...

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. Ōwakudani 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, Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa, operated by Izu Hakone Railway. The line, opened in 1963, climbs Mount Koma (Hakone), Mount Koma (:ja:箱根山, 駒ヶ岳) from t ...

, 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, Sengoku-Annaijo Bus Stop, Moto-Hakone Port, Hakone-Machi Port, and JR Gotemba Station Bus Information. * Hakone Tozan Railway ** - - - - - - * Hakone Tozan Cable Car ** - - - - - * Hakone Ropeway ** - - -

Highways

* Hakone Shindō * * * Hakone Turnpike * Ashinoko Skyline

Sister cities

* Tōyako, Hokkaido, 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, since July 4, 1972 *

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, since October 7, 1987 *

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, friendship city since November 2, 2014

Tourist attractions

Hakone Town's tourist attractions include:

, the Hakone Barrier, the Hakone Shrine, the Hakone Resort Complex, the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, the Hakone Venetian Glass Museum and many others. 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 logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

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 view of ancient Hakone Barrier area and

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

References

External links

Official Website

Hakone Portal Website
* {{Authority control Towns in Kanagawa Prefecture