Mondays are for Dreaming: Hakone, Japan

When I woke this morning, I was not dreaming of Japan. But, as I sipped coffee and read the news this morning, this article from the Washington Post jumped out at me: Going Our Way: A plan for first-timers in Japan. Curious as to what they might suggest, I was thrilled to see that Hakone was one of the suggested places to visit.

Two and a half years ago, Rob was invited to a seminar in Okinawa, so we decided to make a family vacation out of the trip. I had been to Japan on a high school exchange and had ended up minoring in “Asian Studies” while in college, which included three years of Japanese. So many years later, I knew my Japanese was mostly forgotten, but was excited by the chance to return. We knew the first week would be spent on Okinawa, but the next week and a half was wide open. We had settled on a few days in Kyoto and a few days in Tokyo when a friend (who had also been involved in the high school exchange program) emailed me, suggesting that Hakone might be a fun place to take the kids. I had never heard of Hakone, so I did a little research and knew that the girls would have a blast … a pirate ship, a gondola, a cable car .. what’s not to love?

Researching where to stay, how to get around and what to do in Hakone was a challenge. The area is designed as a resort for Japanese people more so than for foreigners, so English language websites and information were in short supply. Our first choice for lodging, Fuji-Hakone Guest House, is actually mentioned in the Washington Post article, but they were booked up, unfortunately. We managed to make reserations at another place and crossed our fingers that we’d figure out how to find it.

Looking back, I can’t believe how much we did and saw in two days in Hakone. Now that the girls are older, I am sure we’d have even more fun.

While there we:

1. ate at an Italian restaurant (being a vegetarian in Japan is not very easy)
2. rode a bus
3. sailed on a pirate ship
4. didn’t see Mt. Fuji due to the fog
5. increase our life spans by 7 years by eating black eggs
6. rode a gondola
7. rode a funicular
8. climbed on art at the Hakone Open Air Museum
9. rode a switchback train
10. went to a toy museum
11. visited a Christmas shop
12. skipped stones

While the toy museum of the varied modes of transportation were fun for the kids, the Hakone Open Air Museum was a wonderful surprise. The girls had a fantastic time playing on all the climbing art, like the castle of nets and the crystal city. We also saw lots of sculptures in a nice natural setting, visited the Picasso pavilion and soaked feet in a big footbath. I’d love to go back, if only to visit the Open Air Museum once again!

This is an entry for Mondays are For Dreaming at Mother of All Trips.