The southern end of Lake Ashi lies in the bowl of the Hakone volcano, a caldera ringed by grassy ridges, and the roads that run around its rim are some of the most ridden in Japan. Hakone town itself is a scattered place of hot-spring inns, shrines and lakeside piers, and on clear days, which come mostly in winter and early spring, Mount Fuji stands over the far end of the lake, perfectly symmetrical and white-topped. The rest of the year it hides in haze and cloud more often than the posters admit.
History left a clear mark here. The old Tōkaidō highway between Edo and Kyoto crossed these mountains, and the Tokugawa shogunate placed a checkpoint on the lakeshore at Hakone to control traffic, especially women leaving Edo and guns coming in. The checkpoint has been reconstructed and you can walk through it, and nearby sections of the old road are still paved with uneven stones beneath tall cedars. Across the lake, the red torii gate of Hakone Shrine stands in the water and draws a queue of photographers all day.
The volcano is still alive. At Ōwakudani steam and sulphur pour out of a raw yellow slope, and eggs boiled in the hot springs turn black and are sold by the bag with the promise that each adds seven years to your life. Activity there sometimes closes the area for safety, so check before you count on it. The hot springs are the other reason people come: onsen baths in Hakone are a long tradition, and a soak after a cold ride is about as good as it gets.
For riding, the Hakone Skyline runs along the western ridge with wide views and fast, open curves, while the Turnpike climbs from the Odawara side in long, steep sweeps. Both are toll roads. Fog can roll in from nowhere and reduce visibility to a few metres, and weekend traffic, including other riders and sports cars, can be heavy, so the best time is early on a weekday. Hakone has fuel, though prices are a little higher than on the coast, and Odawara has everything if you are low. Food is everywhere, from soba to elaborate inn dinners.