Is Hakone Worth It Right Now? Japanese Travelers on the Inbound Crowds — and the Quiet Routes That Still Work

▶Scroll while you watch

What locals said (excerpted from 387)

• @Kyle-k1x👍 172

  Hakone is just overflowing with foreign tourists now — I've stopped going.

  箱根とかもう外国人で溢れかえってもう行かない

• @バタ子-k5c👍 153

  I'm not in the tourism industry, but I work in Hakone. Foreigners at every bus stop, in every convenience store — even the convenience-store staff are foreign now. I've started feeling like I'm the one visiting another country…

  観光業ではありませんが、箱根で働いてますがバス停にもコンビニにも外国人ばかり、なんならコンビニの定員も外国人で私が異国にお邪魔している気分になりました…。

• @user-nl4cl6hb9h👍 28

  Places you could visit so casually until about ten years ago… 😢 As a tourism business it's a blessing, but this is Japan, and yet it's become hard for Japanese people to go. Something about that doesn't sit right with me… or is it just me?

  10年くらい前まではほんとに気軽に行けた所が😢 観光業としてはありがたい反面 日本なのに日本人が行きづらく なってしまってるのが なんともモヤモヤします… 私だけなのでしょうか？

• @hideo6313👍 202

  This settled it for me. For an old-timer with no money and no stamina, it's impossible even in the off-season. Japan has become too small for all these foreign visitors. This video alone was enough for me — thank you.

  これで覚悟決まりました 私みたいな金も体力もない年寄には閑散期でも無理ですな 外国人には日本は狭すぎる この動画だけで満足致しました、ありがとうか

• @yksklove15👍 23

  I went to Owakudani last year and it felt like being on an overseas trip — almost everyone there was foreign 😂

  去年箱根の大涌谷行ったらほぼ外国人海外旅行行ってる気分になったのを思い出した😂

• @HS-cx2ek👍 38

  The ropeway in the evening is so packed you're genuinely nervous about whether you'll make it home.

  夕方は帰れるのかどうかとドキドキしちゃうほど混んでるロープウェイ

• @fleur9544👍 6

  I went to Gora on a weekday last week and neither the Romancecar nor the Hakone Tozan train was as crowded as I'd feared. More foreign visitors, yes — but everyone had good manners on the trains and at the hotel, and since our inn was quiet we had a relaxed stay. Golden Week must be a different story, though.

  先週の平日に強羅に行きましたがロマンスカーも箱根登山鉄道も思ってた程は混んでなかったです。 箱根も外国の方が増えたけど皆さん電車やホテルでのマナーも良くわきまえて観光してる印象でした👌 今回のお宿が翠雲だったのもありゆったり過ごせました☺️ 昔山のホテルに泊まった事があるので動画で案内されてて懐かしかったです❣️ 平日はそうでもなかったですがゴールデンウィーク中はもっと混雑するんでしょうね〜

• @SuitTravel👍 685

  Conclusion: shift your timing and you can enjoy Hakone as much as you like — but be careful with Owakudani and the transport home!

  結論としては、時間をずらせばいくらでも楽しめるが、大涌谷と帰りの交通機関だけは注意したほうが良いという方向性になりました！

Where locals go instead

• @福田勝之-e9e👍 37

  Hakone is fine whenever you go, so honestly I'd hold off right now 😅 If you do go: drive up early in the morning, or take the Komagatake Ropeway, or ride a bus from Odawara and walk part of the Ekiden route into an onsen — there are buses along the Ekiden route too. Customizing is everything. I'd skip the Golden Course for now. Avoid the Owakudani ropeway, the mountain railway, the sightseeing boat and the cable car, and it's astonishingly empty.

  @ovathann箱根はいつ行っても大丈夫ですから、今は行かない方が良いと思いますけどね😅 行くなら早朝車で行くか、 駒ヶ岳ロープウェイに乗るか、 小田原からバスで行って、駅伝ルートを歩いて温泉入るとか。 駅伝ルートのバスもあります。 カスタマイズが大切です。 ゴールデンコースは今はやめた方が良いですよ。 大涌谷ロープウェイと、登山鉄道、遊覧船、ケーブルカーを避ければ驚くほど空いています。

• @aria-venice👍 22

  The Seibu-side services — Izuhakone Bus, the Komagatake and Jukkoku-toge lifts, the Lake Ashi cruise boats, Hakone-en — don't take the Odakyu Free Pass, so they're wonderfully empty! You'll even get a seat on the bus. Recommended!

  西武系の伊豆箱根バスや駒ケ岳/十国峠ケーブルカー、芦ノ湖遊覧船、箱根園などは小田急のフリーパスが使えないのでめちゃくちゃ空いてます！バスも座れるのでおすすめ！

• @user-kh9ii6ov3t👍 102

  I love the food at the Fujiya Hotel. It's too expensive for me to actually stay, but I go to Hakone just to have breakfast or lunch there. Then tea at the Yama no Hotel on the way home — that's my idea of bliss.

  私は富士屋ホテルの食事が大好きです。 お高いので泊まった事はないのですが、朝食や昼食を食べる為だけに箱根へ行ったりします。 帰りに山のホテルでお茶をするのが至福のルーティーンです

• @loverider315👍 2

  I'm the one who called out to you from a car in front of the Fujiya Hotel on May 19. My wife and I studied your videos and came to Hakone all the way from Yamagata — riding the mountain railway early in the morning on a reverse loop with the Free Pass was great fun, though it was so full of foreigners it felt like we were the foreign ones. The half-rare aji fry at Sajirushi Shokudo at Odawara fishing port is genuinely delicious — please try it. Take care filming in the heat; looking forward to more Hakone videos.

  本日5月19日に富士屋ホテルの前で車から声をかけさせていただいた者です。スーツさんの動画で予習して山形から妻と箱根へ遊びに行った帰りだったので驚きました。フリーパスで早朝に逆周りで登山電車に乗ったりして楽しかったですが外国人だらけで逆にこちらが外国人なのではないかと思うほどでした。 小田原漁港のさじるし食堂の半生アジフライはホントに美味しいのでぜひ。暑いので気をつけて撮影頑張ってください。また箱根の動画楽しみにしています。

FAQ

Is Hakone worth visiting despite the crowds?

Per this thread, yes — with a plan. The creator's own conclusion (685 likes) is that time-shifting works: go early, expect the two chokepoints to be Owakudani and the evening transport home. The give-up voices in the comments are real, but the regulars all describe a Hakone that's still quiet off the main loop.

How do Japanese travelers avoid the crowds in Hakone?

Three recurring moves in the comments: start early in the morning (or run the loop in reverse), skip the four Golden Course legs — the Owakudani ropeway, Tozan railway, sightseeing boat and cable car — and use the Seibu-side services (Izuhakone Bus, Komagatake Ropeway, Hakone-en), which the Odakyu Free Pass doesn't cover and which stay far emptier (as of the comments).

What is the Hakone Golden Course?

The classic loop sold with the Odakyu Hakone Free Pass: mountain railway up from Hakone-Yumoto, cable car, the Owakudani ropeway, then the sightseeing boat across Lake Ashi. It's exactly where commenters say the inbound crowds concentrate — one regular's advice is bluntly "I'd skip the Golden Course for now; avoid those four and it's astonishingly empty."

How bad are the crowds at Owakudani?

It's the single most-named spot in the thread: "almost everyone was foreign — it felt like an overseas trip" (23 likes), and the evening ropeway down is packed enough that one commenter says you're "genuinely nervous about making it home." The creator's conclusion singles out Owakudani and the ride home as the only two parts needing caution.