Including trekking along the stone-paved old highway of Hakone, which has continued since the Edo period, we will visit the following three attractive places among the beautiful nature with a view of Mt. Fuji.

(1) "Amazake Tea House," which has been a resting place since the Edo period, where you will taste traditional Japanese traveler's food and sweetmeats around a wood-fired hearth.

(2) "Narukawa Art Museum" is home to one of the finest collections of Japanese paintings in Japan. The variety and delicacy of the expression and technique of the rock paintings are different from those of Western paintings.

(3) "Hakone Open-Air Museum" exhibits about 120 masterpieces. Visitors can enjoy the artistic atmosphere while strolling in the open air.

 

To travel to Hakone, you will board Odakyu Railway’s luxury Romancecar Limited Express train. The comfortable journey takes approximately 90 minutes departing from Shinjuku, and travelers can enjoy pleasant views of Mt. Fuji and the changing countryside as they ride.

Upon arrival in Hakone, you will first take a bus along Hakone’s historic highway to Amazake Tea House. Amazake Tea House has been providing rest and refreshments to weary travelers for over 400 years, and its traditional appearance complete with thatched roof, earthen floors and wooden hearth transport you back to another time. The tea house’s specialty is amazake, a sweet non-alcoholic variant of sake that is perfect for warming your soul on a cold winter’s day. It also serves a variety of confectionery and other dishes, including mochi, a chewy form of Japanese rice cake. After refreshments at Amazake Tea House, you will take a short trek along the stone-paved paths of Hakone’s Old Tokaido Highway. Maintained since the Edo Period (1603-1868), the Old Tokaido Highway was once the most important road in Japan, linking Tokyo and Kyoto. Nowadays, however, it is a peaceful walkway lined with towering cedar trees and a great place to explore the nature of Japan.

Following a short trek along the highway, you will take the bus again to the shores of Lake Ashi, an atmospheric caldera lake formed by volcanic eruption over 3,000 years ago. At Lake Ashi, you will enter the next sightseeing stop, Narukawa Art Museum. Narukawa Art Museum is a contemporary museum that showcases the style of painting known as Nihonga (literally “Japanese painting”). Nihonga artists utilize traditional techniques, as well as natural minerals, to create vibrant, bold images unique to Japan, and you can see many masterpieces of this form at the museum. The museum also has a small garden from which you can enjoy panoramic views of Lake Ashi. Here, depending on the weather, you can see breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji towering over the lake ? an image so picturesque you won’t want to forget your camera.

After lunch, you will visit the Hakone Barrier (“Hakone Sekisho”). This historical barrier was once a significant checkpoint along the Tokaido Highway, as travel was heavily regulated along the road for hundreds of years. Today, the barrier has been restored to its former glory, and guests can see the barrier’s offices and gates as they were in Japan’s feudal past.

The last stop on this tour will be the Hakone Open-Air Museum, a unique conceptual museum and garden that exhibits sculptures in the open air. Here you can see various sculptures by some of the world's best sculptors, including works by Auguste Rodin, Picasso, Henry Moore and Medardo Rosso. Settled among the blue sky, green trees and seasonal flowers, these artworks create an inspiring landscape and atmosphere for visitors.

Odakyu Line Shinjuku Station - (Train) Hakone-Yumoto Station - (Bus) Amazake Tea House - Narukawa Art Museum - (Bus) The Hakone Barrier - (Bus) Hakone Open-Air Museum - (Train) Odakyu Line Shinjuku Station

・In the event of cancellation, the following fees will apply:
(1) 3-14 days prior to the program: 20% of the program fee
(2) 2 days prior to the program: 50% of the program fee
(3) One day before the program or on the day*: 100% of the program fee

*In the case of a no show, a separate remittance fee will be charged.