Hike the Old Tokaido Road up to the Hakone Pass with a Local Guide for Spectacular Views of Lake Ashinoko

A Local Guide Who Returned Home to Help Travelers Discover Hakone

Shin Kaneko was born and raised in Hakone, later moving abroad to study in France and the United States. He returned to Japan after university to begin a career in the corporate world, but the pull of his hometown was too strong to resist. Noticing that many international travelers seemed to move quickly through the region on established tourist routes, he decided to found Explore Hakone to provide opportunities for visitors to form deeper connections to Hakone’s history, culture, and nature through genuine interactions with local people.  

Kaneko hopes to help international travelers understand Hakone and its people on a deeper level

As an experienced certified trekking guide, Kaneko thought that walking part of the ancient Hakone Hachiri section of the Tokaido Road could make the region’s history of travel and hospitality more tangible for his guests. “I’ve been impressed by how knowledgeable people from all over the world are about Japanese history these days,” he explains. “But it’s one thing to read about the Tokaido Road in a history book and quite another to be out there in the elements, feeling what those people once felt, with the birds singing in the trees and the swish of the wind through the leaves as they made their way uphill, step by determined step.” 

Local guide Shin Kaneko, founder of Explore Hakone, was born and raised in Hakone

While Kaneko and his fellow local guides encourage all their guests to try walking at least some of the Hakone Hachiri trail, there are provisions for different experience and fitness levels. Because Explore Hakone offers personalized private hiking experiences, tours can be customized for those who want a more rigorous day on the trails and for those who prefer a combination of walking and a lift up some of the more strenuous sections by bus. You can also book a private car via Wabunka to convey you from your hotel to the starting point and pick you up at the end of your hike.

Start Your Adventure with Timeless Local Artisanal Traditions and a Hearty Soba or Udon Lunch

Your journey begins alongside the picturesque Sukumogawa River where you will begin your hike. To ease into the day with a sense of the regional culture, your first stop will take place at the Hatajuku Yosegi Kaikan Hall to learn about the local woodwork tradition known as Yosegi Zaiku. Unique to Hakone, Yosegi Zaiku combines segments of wood from different trees of varying grains and colors into elaborate patchwork patterns that adorn boxes, cups, platters and other attractive objects. Feel free to peruse the items on sale for that perfect piece of local craftsmanship as a memento of your trip to Hakone. 

Local Yosegi Zaiku woodwork involves fitting together pieces of wood of different grains and colors

Because travelers often spent over two weeks on the Old Tokaido Road, they tended to welcome some home-cooked comfort from time to time. Small eateries and teahouses sprung up at various locations along the route, including the Hakone Hachiri. To get a taste of this tradition, you and your guide will have lunch at Kikyoya, a local restaurant that specializes in soba and udon noodle dishes, all served with a bracing broth.

*Please be advised that because the only options are soba or udon, Wabunka cannot make arrangements for allergies or preferences for lunch during this experience.

Discover Natural Beauty and Hidden Traces of the Past as You Walk the Ancient Hakone Hachiri Way

Feeling sated and enlightened, you and your guide will then venture out into the great outdoors to begin your hike through the deep-forested hills that lead up towards the Hakone Pass. Take your time as you walk along to savor the sights and sounds of this secluded natural world as you feel the earth trodden by generations of travelers pass beneath your feet. The guides at Explore Hakone are all very knowledgeable about local history, geography, biology, and culture, so you can feel free to ask questions at any time about whatever intrigues you most about the region.

Hakone is blessed with unique geography and extraordinary natural beauty throughout the year

As you continue along the path with your guide, you will encounter sections of trail that still retain the cobblestones (ishidatami) laid in the late 17th century to replace the less-durable paving material of bamboo. These roadworks were part of the Tokugawa shogunate’s initiative to establish the Hakone Hachiri as a new section of the Old Tokaido Road in order to better control movement and trade as well using the mountains as a natural fortification to guard against the possibility of invasion from the west. 

As you walk, you will encounter sections of cobblestones remaining from the Old Tokaido Road

Recharge at a 400-Year-Old Roadside Teahouse with a Refreshing Cup of Amazake

Among the small eateries to be found along the Old Tokaido Road were humble establishments known as chaya (teahouses) that served tea as well as light meals and snacks. Incredibly, one Hakone chaya established in the early Edo period survives to this day. With its thatched roof and attractive wooden construction, Amasake Chaya is a living embodiment of local history, run by the thirteenth generation of the same family who has welcomed weary travelers for over three centuries.

Welcoming weary travelers for over 400 years, Amasake Chaya is the last remaining traditional Edo-period teahouse along this stretch of the Old Tokaido Road

As well as tea and light snacks, this storied local establishment is famed for its signature drink, amazake (sweet sake). Brewed from rice in a similar way to conventional Japanese sake since ancient times, amazake is a delicious non-alcoholic drink with a creamy texture and sweet reinvigorating taste. The amazake at Amasake Chaya is prepared using the family’s original recipe handed down through the generations. Enjoy it cold in the summer or hot in the winter along with a light snack.

Served cold or hot, amazake has provided refreshment to travelers passing through Hakone for hundreds of years

Summit the Hakone Pass for Spectacular Views of Lake Ashinoko

Throughout the centuries, the climb up to the Hakone Pass was considered the most challenging section of the two-week trek from Kyoto to Edo on Old Tokaido Road. As you feel the ground start to level out beneath your feet and catch your first glimpse of Lake Ashinoko’s azure waters, think of all those men and women who have experienced this moment too, enraptured by equal measures of reverence and relief.

The view across Lake Ashinoko is an inspiring sight after your climb up to the Hakone Pass

Your hike will continue lakeside, pausing to admire the spectacular views across Lake Ashinoko with Mount Fuji rising in the distance on days with clear skies. One of the best preserved sections of the Old Tokaido Road follows the eastern shore of the lake. The gravel path is flanked by rows of towering cedar trees planted over 300 years ago under the Tokugawa shogunate, providing shade to travelers then as they still do to this day.

A well-preserved section of the Old Tokaido Road runs lakeside, lined by giant cedar trees

As you traverse this evocative stretch of the Old Tokaido Road, you will approach the former Hakone Checkpoint, which once exercised strict control over entry and exit into the Kanto region where the Tokugawa shoguns lived. For travelers in the Edo period, this could be a time to feel a little bit nervous, but for you, it is the culmination of a day of discovery, exercise, and connection in Hakone.

Connect to Hakone Past and Present on a Hiking Tour with Local Guides

Having travelled extensively and spent many years as a guide, Shin Kaneko understands well that the people you meet on your travels often leave a lasting impression that complements the places you go. All of the guides employed at Explore Hakone have deeply personal connections to Hakone, having either grown up there or actively chosen to move to the region. And because the guides are also all fluent in English, spending time with them is a great way to get an insider’s perspective on life in Hakone through casual conversation. 

When you hiking with Explore Hakone, you will spend quality time with local guides who care deeply about the place where they live

While there is much to learn about the past and present of Hakone, and indeed Japan, from the pages of a book or the images of a film, nothing beats an in-person experience where you yourself walk the same path that led so many travelers throughout Japanese history on journeys that mattered to them just as much as yours does to you. Kaneko and his fellow guides at Explore Hakone await, excited to accompany you on your next adventure as you walk the Old Tokaido Road together.