Friday, we took a mid-morning train out to Odawara, the entry point to Hakone, a national park area near Mt. Fuji with hot springs, hiking and museums near Mt. Fuji. From Odawara, we took a small train up to Miyanoshita, small town with luxury hotels and antique shops. We found a local onsen, or hot spring bath, for a relaxing soak to try and soothe out the kinks of the past few days. H. was exiled to the outside tub, while A. and I luxuriated in the privacy of our indoor bath, shared only with the largest bug I've ever seen (a japanese stick insect that hung out on the wall). Then it was back on the train to the well-named Chorokumbi, for dumplings.
After lunch, we wandered into the Hakone Open Air museum, one of the coolest, if randomest, museums I've been do. Situated on what seems like a never-ending piece of land, the museum boosts rooms full of Picassos, a stand-out collection of Henry Moores, and an amazing collection of modern sculpture ranging from Rodin casts to Japanese plays on form and function. The museum is very kid-friendly, as many of the installations are interactive. We were especially jealous of the “wood of nets” and the mesh swings reserved for the under-12 set.
I could have lingered all day, but we had a cable car and a sailing ship to catch. The mountain train ended in Gora, where we hopped a cable car to head down the mountain to the lake port of Togendai. Alas, Mt. Fuji hid in the clouds as we descended, but we had a great view of the lake and the surrounding green hills. In Togendai, we embarked on a masted sailing ship, complete with Japanese Captain Hook in full regalia, for a lake cruise with a side of kitsch. Our day ended with a bus and train back to Tokyo, where the last vestiges of the Onsen calm sent us off to an early bedtime.
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