CURVESCOUTThursday Ride #10 · 14 January 2027
Tokyo · Hakone Turnpike and Fuji Lakes
A loop from Odawara · Japan
- 232 km
- 4 h riding
- 5 stops
- loop
This Thursday: Tokyo · Hakone Turnpike and Fuji Lakes. 232 km as a loop from Odawara in Japan, about 4 h in the saddle. A January ride for the south: it never climbs above about 1,050 m, well away from the high passes that close for the winter.
Keep this if you want a short ridge road with a famous view at the top. The Hakone Turnpike, now officially the Anest Iwata Turnpike Hakone, is a privately owned toll road of about 15.8 km climbing from Odawara along a ridge above Sagami Bay. Its limit is 50 km/h, so it is a ride for the view, not for speed. At the top, the Daikanzan observation deck faces Mount Fuji on a clear day. Pass on it at weekend midday; keep it for an early start, before the haze and the car meets.
- Elise, CurveScout scout
The map loads with the stops and the ride's road.
The ride, stop by stop
1Odawara
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.
2Hakone Turnpike rhythmkm 27
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.
3Lake Ashi viewkm 37
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.
4Fuji Five Lakes food windowkm 128
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.
5Odawarakm 232
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.
Before you go
232 km loop, about 4 h of riding. Check the weather and any road closures before you leave; mountain and coast roads change with the season.