Hakone, close to Tokyo and Mount Fuji, is a popular travel destination. Hakone has many hot springs, from outdoor hot springs with fantastic views to an onsen theme park. Hakone is located between Tokyo and western Japan. You can take the Shinkansen to Odawara and go to Osaka and Kyoto via Hakone. Hakone has been a hot spring town for a long time and is now famous as a hot spring tourist destination.
The epicenter of volcanic activity in Hakone is Owakudani, “Great Seething Valley.” Its origins go back to about 130,000 years ago when eruptions in the Hakone caldera formed a cone-shaped volcano at its center. This central cone has collapsed and emerged anew several times over the millennia. Owakudani, as we know it today, took shape roughly 3,000 years ago. Another explosive breakdown of the central cone caused pyroclastic flows that blocked the nearby Haya River, forming the dry valley where the cone had stood before this massive eruption. Today, besides keeping Hakone’s many hot springs, Owakudani is a site of extensive scientific research and a popular tourist attraction, where “black eggs” steamed over sulfurous water are a local novelty.
Hakone marquetry is a craft made in Hakone-cho, Kanagawa Prefecture. Hakone parquet is a craft that creates a geometric pattern by combining wood colors and grains. The production of the Hakone parquet began at the end of the Edo period, and the technology has been passed down.
Hakone parquet has various crafts such as boxes, coasters, and vases. Today, Hakone and the Odawara region are the only production areas in Japan.
