Cities Hakone Hakone Tozan Railway switchbacks
Hakone Tozan Railway switchbacks
- Transport/Scenic
The why: Japan's oldest mountain railway, climbing from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora through three reverse-direction switchbacks that gain roughly 450 meters of elevation. It's a working commuter line and a sightseeing experience at the same time, and during hydrangea season (June) the trackside is wall-to-wall blue and pink.
Gotcha / logistics: The cars are small and steep — hauling a large suitcase is a nightmare for everyone. Send bags ahead via Hakone Carry from Yumoto. Covered by the Hakone Free Pass.
At each switchback the train stops, the driver and conductor swap ends, and the train reverses direction up the next leg of zigzag. The whole climb is about 40 minutes Yumoto to Gora. Sit on the right going up for the better valley views.
The Ohiradai stop in the middle of the line is the unsung station — old, quiet, and the cleanest place to photograph the train framed in trackside greenery. The Hayakawa Bridge crossing near Tonosawa is the other classic shot, taken from the river below rather than from the platform.
In June, the line markets itself as the “Hydrangea Train” with extended evening runs and lit-up bushes after dark. It’s worth doing once. The rest of the year it’s the most reliable spine of the loop — immune to the Route 1 traffic that wrecks the buses on busy weekends.
The Hakone Tozan Line consists of two sections. The lower section from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto is covered by regular Odakyu trains from Tokyo and is not particularly scenic — sit through it. The upper section from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora is the mountain railway, served by small dedicated trains that wind through a narrow, densely wooded valley over multiple bridges and tunnels. This is the section worth paying attention to.
Trains run every 15-20 minutes between Hakone-Yumoto and Gora. The one-way fare is 460 yen; the entire line from Odawara through Gora is covered by the Hakone Free Pass. The Chokoku-no-Mori station (Open Air Museum) is one stop before Gora and is the most-used intermediate stop. From Gora, most travelers transfer to the cablecar for the next leg toward Owakudani and Lake Ashinoko.
The hydrangea illumination trains in mid-June through mid-July run in the evenings with special timetables and require seat reservations — book through Odakyu in advance, not on the day. The blooms peak around early July and are best from the train rather than from platforms, which fill quickly on event days.
More in Hakone
Hakone Ropeway (Sounzan to Togendai)
The aerial gondola from Sounzan over the Owakudani vent field down to Togendai on Lake Ashi — the segment of the loop where Mt. Fuji, the active volcano, and the lake all show up in the same frame. About 30 minutes end-to-end with a stop at Owakudani.
Hakone Shrine & Heiwa no Torii
The forest shrine on Lake Ashi's southern shore, with its red Heiwa no Torii standing in the water — one of the most photographed gates in Japan. The shrine itself dates to the 8th century and was a stop for travelers on the old Tokaido road praying for safe passage over the mountains.
Lake Ashi sightseeing cruise
The pirate-ship ferry across the caldera lake created by the same eruption that built Owakudani. It's a working leg of the Hakone loop, not a sightseeing add-on, and the deck angle on the southbound run gives the cleanest Fuji-over-Ashinoko shot of the trip.
Hakone Open-Air Museum
Japan's first open-air sculpture museum, opened 1969, with monumental works by Henry Moore, Rodin, and Niki de Saint Phalle set against the Hakone mountain backdrop. The Picasso Pavilion holds one of the world's largest collections of his ceramics.
Owakudani volcanic vents
The active steam-vent field that gave Hakone its hot springs in the first place — a treeless, sulfur-yellow caldera floor where the geology stops being theoretical. On clear days Mt. Fuji sits directly behind the vents.
Pola Museum of Art
A largely subterranean museum in the Sengokuhara beech forest, designed by Nikken Sekkei to disappear into the national park. The collection is world-class Impressionism — Monet, Renoir, Picasso — plus a major glass-art holding, all lit by a glass atrium that filters light the way the surrounding canopy does.