Hakone

From Sapporo we travelled south almost half the length of Japan, covering over a thousand kilometres in 4 hours on the Shinkansen. So good! Suffice to say Chelsea is developing a taste for trainspotting. We arrived in Hakone in the early evening and were stunned by how Ghibli it all is—little wooden houses, winding streets amidst the green mountains, adorable train ways, etc etc.

Hakone is a cute spa town, with hot springs powering the onsen baths. We bought the ‘Hakone Freepass’ which gives access to five types of transport around the area, and proceeded on a loop including: train, cable car, funicular, bus and, incongruously, a pirate ship. Last time Dan came through here in 2019 he was exhausted and on the brink of a mental breakdown (partly a consequence of supporting England in a Rugby World Cup), and couldn't see Mt Fuji due to thick clouds. This time, he was less depressed, but the weather was still overcast, so no views of Fuji were had. We will just have to come back.

We also visited the Hakone Open Air Museum, which boasts sculptures by Rodin, Henry Moore, Lee Ufan, and Barbara Hepworth amongst many others, plus a substantial collection of Picasso ceramics. Kind of strange to have all of these in a big public garden in the Japanese countryside, but hey, we liked it. Let the Japanese cook.

On both afternoons we sampled Hakone's onsen baths, which is to say, boiled and steamed ourselves in a variety of mineral broths. We should be pretty tasty by now. There are day-use onsens for around £7-10, and once you get around the idea of bathing naked with strangers, wearing nothing but a small towel folded neatly on top of your head, they are very relaxing.

Chelsea has been keen to watch some live music in Japan, and we heard there was a free gig in one of the Hakone pubs, so walked down on our last evening. It turned out to be a bougie onsen restaurant, where the music came from a Japanese husband and wife playing haunting, acoustic music on a guitar, accordion and Irish fiddle. Very impressive. But not quite what we had in mind!

We are continuing our patronage of the konbini Lawson: the Bourdain-approved tuna and egg sandwich comprises at least one of our three meals per day. We also found another gorgeous izakaya meal down a back street in a place with no English. However, despite these efforts and frequent konbini cheese burritos, Dan’s weight is now at 66kg (down from 71kg in January), with Chelsea down only slightly at 55kg. Clothed and loaded with backpacks on, we weighed in at 85kgs and 76kgs respectively. We suspect it’s down to reduced beer intake due to price sensitivity, and doubling our step count now that we’re in a country where it’s possible/safe/pleasant to wander around.

On that note, there's even more walking ahead now that we’re in the southern cities. Wish us calorific meals!Read more