Tokyo · Hakone Turnpike and Lake Ashi Short Loop
A 228 km loop from Tokyo south-west exit
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Why this ride
The classic hill-road taste without pretending it is a two-day tour. 228 km round from Chōfu - plan on about 5 h of riding. The stops in between: Odawara, Hakone Turnpike, Lake Ashi view stop and Gotemba. The highest point is 850 m.
Roadbook
- Tokyo south-west exit
start · 40 m
Getting out of Tokyo is half the ride, and this is where the first half ends. The land here is almost at sea level, forty metres up, and it is hard to believe the mountains are so close, but on a clear winter morning you can see the Tanzawa hills and sometimes the white shoulder of Fuji from the riverbank.
Two very different rides leave from here. One goes south and west along the Tomei toward Odawara, then up into the Hakone hills by the toll road, and the other crosses the bay to the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula, where the Tomiura district grows loquats and flowers and ends at Nojimazaki, the cape with a white lighthouse designed by the French engineer Leonce Verny and first lit in 1869. Both rides begin with a stretch of suburban driving that rewards patience: traffic lights, expressway ramps, and cars changing lane without warning.
The golden rule of leaving Tokyo is timing. Weekday rush hours choke the expressways, and the weekend flood of day-trippers can make the Tomei slow from early morning, so the best departure is before dawn or after nine, and you should check the traffic boards at service areas. Tolls are paid by electronic card or cash, and the rest areas, with their good coffee and noodles, are an institution. There is fuel at every corner in this part of the city, so top up before you go, because stations in the hills are fewer and close earlier.
If you have a moment before you set off, the Tama riverbank is a pleasant place to sit and study the map. Cyclists and joggers share the path, and a vending machine sells hot canned coffee at every corner. In spring the river embankments are bright with rapeseed flowers and cherry blossom, and in autumn the pampas grass glows in the low sun.
- Odawara fuel gate
fuel · 15 m
Odawara is a castle town at the foot of Hakone, and for most riders it is the place where the mountains begin. The castle, which belonged to the Hojo clan until Toyotomi Hideyoshi besieged it in 1590, has a reconstructed keep, built in 1960, with a museum inside. The old town around it is quiet, with a modest shopping street and some traditional shops. It sits on Sagami Bay, with the coast road leading east and west and the Hakone mountains rising behind.
The town is known for food. Odawara is one of Japan's great producers of kamaboko, the white fish paste cakes that appear in noodle soup and on celebration tables, and shops along the coast sell them freshly steamed. The fishing port sells dried horse mackerel, and Odawara also has a long tradition of growing ume plums, which are made into pickles and drinks. It is a pleasant place for a late lunch, with sushi bars close to the station.
For the rider, Odawara is a gateway and a place to refuel. It has a population of about two hundred thousand, so there are petrol stations, convenience stores and restaurants in abundance, and the roads inland lead to the Hakone Turnpike, one of Japan's best-known scenic toll roads. Riding back down into Odawara at the end of a day in the mountains, with the road sloping to the bay and lights in the town below, is a pleasure. The coast road, Route 135, is busy at weekends but good for relaxed riding.
Expect traffic, especially on summer Sundays, and note that speed limits in Japan are low and enforced. Weather on the coast is mild, but Hakone can be wet and foggy when Odawara is dry, so check conditions before you go up. Autumn offers crisp air and good views of Fuji on clear days. Park near the castle, walk up to the keep, then find something warm to eat.
- Hakone Turnpike
serpentine · 850 m
The Hakone Turnpike is a toll road that climbs from the Pacific side up to the volcanic highlands of Hakone, a mountain district about eighty kilometres south-west of Tokyo. Here the road runs at roughly 850 metres, close to the northern end of Lake Ashi, a crater lake formed in an ancient caldera. On a clear day Mount Fuji rises above the water in a beautiful cone, and a red torii gate stands in the lake at Hakone Shrine, a classic Japanese view that every visitor photographs.
The road is serpentine in the best sense. It winds through cedar and cypress forest in long, smooth bends, with views opening over the lake and hills, and its gradients are friendly, so even a modest motorbike climbs easily. The surface is generally good, but fog and rain are frequent at altitude, and the shade keeps patches of the tarmac damp long after the sun has come out. Weekend traffic is heavy, with a lot of cars, tour buses and other riders, so aim for a weekday or an early start.
Hakone has a long history as a checkpoint on the old Tokaido highway, the main road that linked Edo with Kyoto. The Tokugawa shogunate established a barrier station here in 1619 to control travellers, and a reconstruction at the lakeshore recalls the strict inspections of the time. The old cedar avenue along the Tokaido path, with its massive trees, is still walkable. Near Sengokuhara, pampas grass fills the hillsides in autumn in silver waves, and at Owakudani the volcanic vents steam and smell of sulphur, with eggs boiled black in the hot water sold at the stands.
Fuel is available in the town of Hakone, about five kilometres away, and at stations on the main road, but there are few in the hills, so fill up before you climb. Soba and trout are local specialities, and the hot springs everywhere are a perfect way to relax your shoulders after the ride. Spring and autumn are the finest seasons, and winter can bring ice to the higher road.
- Lake Ashi view stop
photo · 720 m
Lake Ashi fills the caldera of the old Hakone volcano, at 720 metres, and it is one of the most visited places in Japan, partly because of the view. On a clear morning, particularly in winter, the cone of Mount Fuji rises above the water in perfect symmetry, and the red torii gate of Hakone Shrine stands in the lake in the foreground.
Hakone has been a travellers' stop for centuries. In the Edo period, the Tokaido, the great road between Edo and Kyoto, crossed the mountains here, and the shogun kept a checkpoint on the shore of the lake to control the passage of weapons and women. The checkpoint has been reconstructed, and a stretch of the old road, lined with huge cedars planted in the seventeenth century, still runs beside the lake. Pirate-style tourist boats cross the water, and the sulphurous steam of Owakudani, the volcanic valley above, drifts in the breeze.
The ride up to the lake is the thing. The roads climb from the coast in a series of tight bends, with hairpins, tunnels and views, and the road around the lake itself is a smooth, winding ribbon. This is a famous place for riders, and on fine weekends the roads are packed with motorbikes, cars and tour buses, so a weekday or an early start is wise. The weather can change in minutes, with fog and rain rolling in from the sea, and in winter ice can form on the upper roads. A few of the scenic roads are toll roads.
Hakone has more than thirteen thousand people, with fuel, restaurants and souvenir shops, and hot-spring baths, onsen, are everywhere. After a day in the saddle, there is nothing better than a hot soak with a view of the mountains. The best time for views of Fuji is early on a cold, clear morning in winter, but spring and autumn are lovely, with cherry blossoms and red maples. The summer is hazy, and the rainy season in June brings hydrangeas but little view.
- Gotemba return check
food · 450 m
Coming back through Gotemba after a day in the hills has its own pleasure, because the town sits at the foot of Fuji and the mountain rules the sky above it. The city lies at about 450 metres on a broad, gentle fan of volcanic ash, with the rice fields of the plain below and the black upper slopes of the volcano above, and at the end of a day the setting sun lights the summit in orange and pink. In clear weather, the whole mountain seems to hover over the town.
A return check is also a practical matter. Gotemba is a convenient place to review the day, check the bike and plan the way home. Over the Otome Pass to the east, the road drops toward Hakone and Odawara, a route of smooth bends through forest, and to the south and east the Tomei expressway runs toward Tokyo, which is about a hundred kilometres away. Expect heavy traffic on Sunday evenings, particularly at the Tanzawa section, where the road narrows and queues form for many kilometres. Leaving early or late can save an hour.
Gotemba is known for its rice, which is grown with the cold, clear water filtered through the volcanic soil, and many restaurants proudly serve it plain, with a few pickles and a bowl of miso soup. Local specialities also include a hot pot, grilled river fish and the rich, creamy dairy products of the highland farms. A simple set meal, with rice cooked in an earthenware pot, makes a fine end to a day. The town has more than eighty thousand people and a big outlet shopping centre, so fuel, food and rooms are all easy to find.
The air at this height is cooler than in Tokyo, and temperatures can drop sharply after sunset, even in summer. Mist forms in the evening and rolls across the fields, and the smell of damp grass and woodsmoke gives a feeling of countryside. Typhoons can bring heavy rain and wind in late summer, and winter nights can be near freezing, with frost on the road in the early morning. If Fuji is hidden by cloud, as it often is, be patient: a gap often opens near sunset, and the mountain emerges for a few minutes, glowing, before the light fades.
- Back to Tokyo
finish · 40 m
The end of the ride is the beginning of Tokyo again, and it comes in stages. First the hills drop away, and the road widens; then the first signal lights, the first convenience store, the first apartment blocks, and finally the glow of the capital spread across the plain in the dark. Arriving in Chofu at the end of a long day, with the Tama River running quietly beside the road, is a gentle way to come home.
Chofu is an ordinary city of two hundred thousand, quiet in the evening, with a stadium that hosts football and rugby, a long riverside cycle path, and shopping streets where small restaurants serve grilled chicken and cold beer. After a day in the mountains, a plate of yakitori and a noodle soup in a place with a steamed-up window is about as good as it gets. The locals are used to bikers returning in the dusk, and the hospitality is easy.
A few practical points make the last hour smoother. Japan drives on the left, and speed enforcement is strict, with fixed cameras and patrol cars, particularly on the expressways. Rain makes painted lines and manhole covers slippery, and in the city, taxis and delivery vans stop and start without warning. Tolls are charged on most expressways, and an electronic card saves time at the gates. The Chuo Expressway can back up for many kilometres on Sunday evenings, with the Kobotoke tunnel as a notorious bottleneck, so plan to leave the mountains early or accept a slow crawl.
This is also a good place to check the bike over after a long day, look at your tyres, and wipe the bugs from the visor. Park in the places marked for motorcycles, because the rules about street parking are tight and fines can be steep. Then take a deep breath, and let the ride settle.