Work & Travel: Hakone trip

The main reason I decided to make this trip is that the Odakyu Railway Odawara Line from Shinjuku to Hakone is one of the railways in the original Microsoft Train Simulator (MSTS). I made tons of pictures, but unfortunately, due to having lost my memory card, they're all gone, so I'll just use some pictures from the Internet.

I started out at Tama Plaza Station, took a Tokyu Denentoshi train to Chuorinkan where I bought the Hakone Free Pass. The Japanese have set the price remarkably well, so that you only just break even when you buy it as compared to buying individual tickets; but it gives you freedom of moving about without remorse, as there's no limit on your travels while in the free area, no matter what means of transport you decide to take (be it a cablecar, ropeway or even a cruiseship!)

The Hakone Free Pass is marginally cheaper from Chuorinkan station than from Shinjuku, and I just made use of the fact that I lived in the western part of Tokyo metropolis, close to Yokohama, and therefore could board the Odakyu railway at a later point. I took Odakyu Enoshima line to Sagami-Ono, whence I boarded a rapid (or express?) to Odawara.

Of course it had to be Series 3000 from MSTS | Wikimedia

I took it all the way to Odawara, where I had enough time to make my way at an easy pace to the Odawara Castle:

vagabondish.com

The castle opened @ 9.00, the entry fee was around ¥400, the view from top was nothing spectacular and inside was a fairly small museum. Don't expect much information in English; all there is states obvious, like «This is a samurai hat» (D'oh!), the detailed description is Japanese-only. But at least I found a shuriken (Shadow Warrior, anyone?):

This shuriken actually is from the Odawara Castle museum | Wikimedia

But, as Lo Wang says: "I like sword. That's a personal weapon."

The history of the castle
The castle was built in mid 15^th century, destroyed by Genroku earthquake (1703), rebuilt and restored (1706 - 1721) and finally dismantled in 1870. The Great Kanto earthquake then in 1923 finished the remaining stone wall.

The current keep (or donjon, if you please) was built anew after 2^nd world war (1960), so the castle is, essentially, modern, even though giving semblance of a historic building. More on the subject here & here.

More realistic daylight picture | jcastle.info

The grounds of the castle proved slightly more enjoyable, with a few gates amidst cherry blossoms, a mini railway for kids (some ¥80 a ride), a Tourist Information Center with very little stuff for foreigners, and a much better Local Culture museum (free). There were more English descriptions and the articles were much more interesting, depicting the way of life of local peasants in the times long gone by.

Of other sights I may mention the Sumiyoshi-bashi bridge, Historical Museum (¥300; or ¥600 combined ticket with the keep), with allegedly no English descriptions whatsoever, and, finally, the Hotoku Ninomiya jinja (shrine). I had pictures of all of these, but unfortunately they're all lost now. This one's for consolation:

Hotoku Ninomiya shrine | Wikimedia

The whole visit didn't take me long and after 11.00 I took a Hakone Tozan Line local train to Hakone-Yumoto. An interesting fact about this line is that between Iriuda and Hakoneyumoto it runs on a dual-gauge (1,067mm Cape gauge and 1,435mm standard gauge); however, only narrow gauge trains ply it (might there be a depot for the mountain trains @ Iriuda?)

Hakone is famous mainly for onsen (hot springs) but I didn't dawdle and immediately took a mountain railway to Gora. Since everything in Japan is extremely orderly, including tourism, I didn't have to wait long.

Case in point of Japanese orderliness, the whole Hakone Free Pass is organized so that you are suggested to take a pre-determined circular route that I will eventually describe here. It pays out best, it's very efficient (what you can see in given time) and the price of the pass is set at the exact level to induce you to buy it and do the circle.

Hey, you're supposed to keep in line even on a hiking trail! | objectifjapon.over-blog.fr

But back to the train to Gora. This mountain railway overcomes quite a bit elevation change (about 450m in 9km, which is an average 50‰, or 1-in-20, gradient) and things get a bit more crowded as well.

That's an understatement | reallylostintranslation.wordpress.com

The rolling stock is made in Switzerland (or at least it's made to look like Swiss, though no holes) and the railway, one of standard gauge, climbs through three switchbacks.

Series 2000 on Hakone Tozan Line to Gora | Wikimedia

At Gora everyone files out and lines up to wait for an equally crowded Hakone Tozan cable car to Sounzan. It doesn't really take you far (just over 1 km) but since you already have a Free Pass, what the heck...

It was super crowded on Tuesday off-season, I guess on summer weekends train pushers are doing overtime | Wikimedia

At Sounzan the crowds flock to the Hakone Ropeway. Even though all the trains up to now were crowded, there was never any significant waiting or delay, and the ropeway easily dealt with the onslaught of the passengers. The capacity and the speed with which the attendants directed the traffic flow was amazing.

Ropeway over the valley | Wikimedia

The ropeway takes you over to the highest point on the tour at 1,044m, and that is Owakudani volcanic valley (Owakudani translates to Great Boiling Valley):

Bird's eye view from the ropeway | Wikimedia

This is famous for two things, first, the black eggs, apparently boiled in volcanic hot springs:

For each egg you eat, you'll live 7 years longer | Wikimedia

Unfortunately, you can only buy a pack of 5 (for ¥500) and since I did not plan to transport them home, I passed up on it.

The next great thing to see is a breathtaking view of Mt. Fuji (when the weather's clear, that is):

Flickr

From Owakudani the ropeway carries on down to Togendai, situated on the shores of Lake Ashinoko (in theory it should be Lake Ashi, because Ashinoko means Ashi lake, but who cares, right?).

Apart from being picturesque, it is plied by fairy-tale-like pirate ships that take you, again, in an orderly Japanese fashion, on a 30 min cruise with views to Mt Komagatake.

And if you're lucky, you'll get to see Mt Fuji as well | Odakyu.jp

You've got two choices of a disembarkation point - either Hakone-machi, or Moto-Hakone. Far as I remember, I got off at Hakone-machi and caught a bus (again, no waiting!) back to Hakone.

One last look at Mt. Fuji | Wikimedia

Back at Hakoneyumoto Station my only job was to wait for the Odakyu Romancecar Limited Express, and I had specifically reserved a front right seat on the Series 7000LSE.

This train is famous for several reasons. It received the Blue Ribbon Award for design, it features in Microsoft Train Simulator...

...and you can actually sit where the train driver usually sits; the driver's cramped cabin is on top | Wikimedia

While waiting, I took a lot of pictures of other (also famous) Limited Express trains of Odakyu Railway. However, all of them are now lost, so let me just paste this one (again from Wikimedia):

Fancy Odakyu 50000VSE | Wikimedia

When the 7000LSE arrived, the people filed out and the attendants quickly set to work. They turned all seats to face the direction of travel (in Japanese limited express trains and shinkansens you don't have to sit opposite the direction of travel; you can actually turn your seat any way you want).

7000LSE at Hakone-Yumoto | Wikimapia.org

And because 7000LSE is almost 35 years old, the attendants had to do it manually.
LiveLeak.com - Hate facing backwards on the train?

On newer trains, one just pushes a button | LiveLeak

After we were allowed to board I quickly snapped a few pictures of the interior and was even allowed to peer into the driver's cab (including taking a quick pic!). Then I settled in my seat (13A, I think, front right window seat),