On my second day in Hakone, I visited three places, in order: Gora Park, the Hakone Open Air Museum, and Yunessun (a water park). The second day was definitely the best day of the three.
Gora is an area of Hakone with many hot springs and museums. To reach it from the tourist and hotel district, the easiest way is to use the Hakone Tozan Railway. This rail line is one of Japan’s few mountain rail lines and has the steepest incline for a train in Japan. It also includes a few switchbacks and tunnels, and much of the original construction of a century ago is still in use, having weathered multiple major natural disasters in good condition.
Gora Park was not far from the station. It is a lovely place to relax and enjoy the mountain scenery. You can also see Owakudani, Hakone’s premier area for active volcanic activity. In addition, there are a stand for drinks and snacks and the Hakone Craft House to enjoy. I signed up for a glassblowing workshop and made my own glass cup! With substantial help from employees, of course. It was a lot of fun to see what goes into glassblowing and feel the hot glass take shape in my hands.
A lot of Gora Park was stairs.A lot of Gora was hilly, honestly.But there was this beautiful fountain at the top!And you can see Owakudani from the park!I had an absolute blast making my own glass cup! The finished product will appear in the next post. Kinda want to do this again, haha.
Next, after lunch at a nearby restaurant, I walked from Gora Park to the Hakone Open Air Museum. It wasn’t a long walk at all – it still amazes me how close many places are in walking distance in Japan. The Hakone Open Air Museum shows indoor and outdoor modern art, and some of the pieces are impressively large. There is also a dedicated showroom for art by Picasso. I had a great time visiting the museum.
The entrance to the museum.You descend through this lovely tunnel to reach the main facilities.A welcome message.Right at the front gate, there’s already a dick in view… though there were a lot more naked breasts than dicks in the museum overall.Sure would be nice to have the power of flight. I’m impressed the man’s grounding point is solid enough to not tip him over.Reminds me of Lady Cassandra from Doctor Who…These seats were squishy and nice to sit on.I really liked this sculpture. And you can climb on it!A passerby was kind enough to take pictures of me!Lounging like this was actually pretty comfortable, but I couldn’t stay long – other people were waiting their turns for pictures.THERE WAS A KOI POND IN THE MUSEUMThese are some fat koi, lol.And here, have some more fishies.A solemn traveling monk.Mermaid statue!They sure didn’t ignore the landscaping when making this museum.Hidden inside this large wooden structure……is a play area for children. Was a little miffed that only small children could climb on the nets. But it made sense when I thought about the art (plus safety concerns of weight) – the outside and inside represent a bug’s house.This is a fun maze to wander in and look up at the sky.SPLAT. Big mood, Mr. Statue, big mood.This is the Symphonic Sculpture. You can climb the inside of the tower. It doesn’t look like much from the outside.Info on the symphonic sculpture, plus a QR code for the audio guide.The inside of the Symphonic Sculpture, however, is breathtaking.Please enjoy these different views of the stained glass in different parts of the tower. You can climb to the top of the Symphonic Sculpture and look over parts of the grounds.Hakone really is a very lovely area.It was VERY windy on the day I visited the museum, and even worse high up!Symphonic Sculpture selfie.The movement of this sculpture was mesmerizing to watch.There was an entire building dedicated to Picasso works. But you’re not allowed to take pictures in the interior installations, and I didn’t spend much time here anyway – I was running out of time.This sculpture already looks a little disturbing on the outside……but the inside is even worse.Only Spiderman could walk on this path without falling.This reminds me of stacks of little toy soldiers, except lankier.
Finally, after I finished wandering the Hakone Open Air Museum, I hopped on a bus and went straight to Yunessun, which thankfully stays open fairly late. Hakone Kowakien Yunessun, or Hakone Spa Resort, is an onsen-themed water park. There are indoor and outdoor sections in non-traditional and traditional areas. Bathing suits are worn in the non-traditional area and the experience is similar to a normal water park, except that all the water is warm. In addition, there are four drink-themed baths: the wine bath, coffee bath, green tea bath, and sake bath. While each “drink” was way watered down – normal concentrations would be stupidly expensive to upkeep, and people would undoubtedly drink from the baths – I could still smell and feel the difference of the water on my skin, especially the coffee bath!
Yunessun’s Aegean Sea, a very big indoor bath for many people.A climbing area for kids outside!Water slides made from hot spring water. I went down every slide and it was awesome.I thought it was really fun to go swimming in warm water when the outside temperature was something like 50-60 degree Fahrenheit. Not so fun to get out of the water, though!They had some fish tanks in the outdoor areas! Pretty heavily splashed with water, though.They definitely had fun with the decor.A bath modeled after real volcanic hot springs.It was fun to relax outside here.The wine bath!!!A wine bath selfie.A closer look at the wine bath water.And another selfie.Doctor fish!!! They had some big bois in a tank outside the normal doctor fish area. Probably too big to for it to be comfortable for them to chew on your skin.They sure are cute, all swarming to nibble at my toes! They tickle a lot, too.FishiessssssssHere are a couple selfies in my favorite bath.This was my favorite bath. The water was just a hint cooler and thus more comfortable, and it was separated from the main floor (with its many yelling children) enough to be quiet and relaxing. This area was closed. I wonder why? Not finished, or not suitable for the large crowds that descended during Golden Week?And here’s the coffee bath!! It definitely smelled strongly of coffee.With a selfie.The green tea bath!It was very small, to my surprise.But very cute!The sake bath!This one didn’t have a strong smell, but there was still something there.Cute pic under the sake barrel! Passers-by were very happy to take pictures.
I have no pictures of the traditional area, as this area works like a regular onsen: no one is clothed, so of course you cannot take pictures. The female and male areas are about the same in amenities and scope (or so the website claims; obviously I couldn’t wander to the male side to see for myself).
The following pictures are taken from https://www.yunessun.com/global/en/spa/
This shows the indoor facilities.This shows the outside areas. The water was just a liiiiiittle too hot for me.
When I left Yunessun, I had the same dilemma as the night before: where to get dinner when most of the restaurants were closed? Luckily, I found a nearby yakiniku restaurant that was still open. It was, unfortunately, very expensive, but I compensated by mostly sticking to the cheaper side dishes to save money. After dinner, I caught one of the last trains back to the tourist area to return to my hostel, K’s House Hakone.
Great pictures as always, Melissa! I love the outdoor open air museum! Both it and onsen-themed water park are quite novel- at least to me! Youâre having so many adventuresđ
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