Tokyo · Hakone Turnpike and Fuji Lakes

A 232 km loop from Odawara

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Why this ride

Toll-road precision, Fuji views and a proper mountain day outside Tokyo. Out of Odawara and back again: 232 km, roughly 4 h in the saddle. The stops in between: Hakone Turnpike, Lake Ashi view and Fuji Five Lakes window. The highest point is about 1,050 m. It keeps to quiet secondary roads.

Roadbook

1. Odawara fuel gate fuel

   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.

2. Hakone Turnpike rhythm scenic

   Rhythm is the right word for the Hakone Turnpike, because the road does not so much challenge you as set a tempo. Near Hakone, with Yugawara down the hill and Odawara on the coast, it climbs through broad bends that follow the shape of the old volcano, and after a few kilometres you find a steady pace in which gear changes and lean angles settle into a pattern. It is a road for enjoying rather than attacking, with smooth tarmac, clear sightlines and a limit that police take seriously.

   What makes it memorable is the changing light. Cloud often rolls up from the coast and fills the valleys, so that the road climbs out of grey into sunshine, with the ridges standing like islands in a white sea. At other times the whole thing is wrapped in fog, the bends appear from nowhere, and the engine sounds louder. Take it slowly when visibility is low, and use your lights. In winter, the shaded sections can hold ice into the late morning.

   Near the top, the open grassland of Sengokuhara, on the northern rim of the caldera, is covered in silver pampas grass in autumn, and the whole slope seems to glow when the sun is low. The Hakone Open-Air Museum, with its sculptures on a hillside, and the many small museums and shrines in the area, give you reasons to stop. Hot spring inns are everywhere, and the baths, often outdoors and facing the forest, are the best way to finish a day.

   Yugawara, six kilometres away, is a small hot spring town of twenty-seven thousand people on the coast, with fuel and a good selection of places to eat. It is quieter than Hakone and less touristy, and a good alternative if the main town is crowded. Odawara, further along, offers all the services of a city. In peak season, particularly on weekends in autumn, the Hakone roads can be very busy, and traffic crawls. If you can, ride on a weekday and start early. A slow ride on a good road, with views and baths at the end of the day, is among the great pleasures of Japan.

3. Lake Ashi view photo

   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.

4. Fuji Five Lakes food window food

   Fujikawaguchiko and Fujiyoshida stand a few kilometres either side of this stop, and between them the northern face of Mount Fuji dominates everything. The Fuji Five Lakes, strung along the foot of the volcano, are the usual base for people who want a view of the mountain, and the whole district has grown up around tourism, with inns, restaurants and shops catering to hikers, photographers and bus tours. It is a busy place in season, but the food is worth the crowds.

   The speciality is hoto, a thick, flat noodle stewed in a miso broth with pumpkin and vegetables, served bubbling in an iron pot. It is the signature dish of Yamanashi prefecture, said to have been eaten by the warlord Takeda Shingen's soldiers, and it is a warming meal after a cold ride. Fujiyoshida has its own noodle, a firm, chewy udon served with cabbage and a spicy paste, that is cheap and filling. Both are worth trying, and there is usually no need to book, though lunchtime queues are common.

   The landscape here is shaped by the volcano. The forest of Aokigahara, to the west, grew on lava that flowed from Fuji in the ninth century, and the ground beneath is a maze of caves and tubes. Some of the caves are open to visitors, and the cold, dark interiors make a strange contrast to the sun outside. The lakes themselves were formed when lava dammed river valleys, and each has its own character, from the busy shore of Kawaguchi to the quiet waters of Motosu, which appears on the Japanese 1000 yen note.

   For riders, the lakes offer easy touring, with good roads and many places to stop. The best views of Fuji come in winter and early spring, and in the early morning, when the air is cold and clear. In summer, cloud often hides the mountain from midday. Fuel is plentiful in both towns, which have twenty to fifty thousand people. On a weekend in cherry blossom or autumn colour season, the roads around the lakes become very crowded, and parking near the popular viewpoints is difficult. Weekdays are far better, and a late afternoon visit can be lovely, with golden light on the water.

5. Back to Odawara finish

   Back at Odawara. That is the ride.

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