Sorry for the click-bait title, but it’s pretty much accurate. And I also apologize in advance for this mess of a post. It’s basically just a bunch of pictures and jumbled up thoughts.
Having spent my childhood in Beijing and on the US East Coast, I grew up with 4 very distinct seasons: breezy springs, hot summers, colorful autumns, and snowy winters. And then we moved to Southern California, where we pretty much just got warm and slightly less warm.
Like any other girl, autumn is my favorite season because it’s cute boots and pumpkin season. I never realized how much I missed the turning of the leaves – the quintessential feature that makes fall… fall. It’s been a good two decades since I’ve experienced a real autumn. So I was super excited when my Auntie Hui said she’ll be taking us to Hakone to see the best of Japan’s fall colors.
Hakone Mountain Train
Hakone is a little mountain town west of Tokyo famous for an abundance of hot springs and open air museums. It’s also home to the Hakone volcano crater, which we didn’t go to explore (this time). Our main goal was to see the scenery!
But first, we had to get up the mountain! There’s only one way to do so, and that’s on the Hakone Tozan Railway. This little train is a fun experience in its own right. It carves through the luscious mountain forest, and has 3 switchbacks to ascend the mountain. There are some stops along the way for visiting the various hot spring resorts and open air museums dotted throughout the area.
Once in a while, we were treated to some gorgeous views. I only managed to just snap these pictures as the train zoomed past! Kind of disappointed in the poor quality, but oh well.
After about a very cramped hour’s ride on the Hakone Tozan train, we arrived at the Gora station (which is the terminal station).
Our hotel for the night was just next to the station. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find this listing on hotel booking sites. But it’s literally just next to the station as you walk out. My aunt said that the literal Japanese translation of the hotel name is “Hotel With a Large Pipe” (anyone can verify??).
the hotel is that brownish building just next to the tracks
As soon as we dropped off our excess luggage, we were out the door again. Our destination: the Hakone Art Museum. It was getting later in the afternoon and the museum wasn’t going to be open very much longer.
Getting Grandma up the hill
From our hotel, the Hakone Art Museum was just up ahead, but up a large hill. And we had a challenge: how were we going to get my 81-year old grandmother up the hill?
Our first thought was to grab a taxi, but a few that passed were already occupied, so we decided to just walk it with my grandma in a wheelchair. “It’s only 300 meters away”, my Auntie Hui said. “Only a ten to thirteen minute walk.”
Only when that 300 meters is all uphill on a pretty severe slope, the normal guidelines of time and distance no longer apply.
My aunt was pushing the wheelchair and within a minute, she was huffing and puffing. She pushed with alllll her might up the hill. At this point, none of us realized her difficulty yet so we didn’t step in to help. Even though the rest of us NOT pushing a 150 lb dead weight were breathing quiet heavily too.
My uncle saw she needed help and took over. But soon he was having trouble too. As big and strong of a man he is, it was clear he couldn’t do the job himself. My aunts stepped in to push him while he pushed the wheelchair.
When that wasn’t even enough, my other aunt grabbed the wheelchair from the front and pulled. And so it was like this, with everyone’s effort of pushing and pulling simultaneously (I went to help pull on the other side after taking these photos), that we made it up the hill.
We were all rasping for breath and laughing until our tummies hurt and nothing looked sweeter at the moment than the sight of the museum.
And yes, we made quite the sight for other visitors and locals who passed by on the way. I think we gave everyone a good laugh too.
Hakone Museum of Art
This is actually an art museum, but we only came to see the garden portion of it. And it was BEAUTIFUL.
This is the perfect time of the year to visit as the leaves are in the midst of a beautiful transformation. As soon as I stepped into the garden, I was in awe. Every shade of red, yellow, and green greeted us. The garden is truly magical at this time of the year.
There are also quaint little teahouses tucked within the garden. I imagine it’s a lovely place to relax and have a few sips.
This portion is called the moss garden, as you can see the moss covering nearly every surface.
Japanese moss is an amazing thing. I love how every little individual stem (is that the right term?) of moss is like a tiny plant. I spent a long time trying to get good macro shots of the moss.
My inner wannabe photographer went crazy at this place. I found myself lagging behind to take pictures every 5 feet of everything.
Finally caught up to my family! I really like this candid shot for some reason.
the three sisters
me and Auntie Hui
And then I found the most beautiful dew drops on these plants.
And by then, what daylight there was was starting to wane (which during this time is like 4:30 pm). My pictures were no longer turning out good and my camera battery was dying, so time to call it a day!
By the way, there is actually an art museum. It’s way in the back after you’ve walked through the entire garden. It’s probably worth a look but we ran out of time! It focuses on displaying medieval Japanese ceramics.
And now it was time to go back down the hill.
Going back down the hill had the risk of the wheelchair careening down uncontrollably with no way to stop. We turned the wheelchair around so that my grandma doesn’t go down the hill face-first. We quickly discovered that the trick is to have 2 people at the back pulling, and 2 at the front applying back-pressure. We went down the hill all in one go at a jog. I think it was more scary for my grandma than for us, as she said she felt like she was on a roller coaster.
Now, who said you can’t travel with someone in a wheelchair? ;)
Japanese thermal bath experience
With everyone properly exhausted after this little excursion, it was straight to the thermal baths we go!
Now, before I came, I said that there was NO WAY I was going to do the thermal bath. I confirmed multiple times that yes indeed, Japanese thermal baths are all nude, and no, you can’t wear a bikini, and let’s face it, it’s super f****** awkward to be nude with your family. But alas, peer pressure is very much real and I found myself changing into the hotel-provided robe and following my aunts and grandma down to the baths.
Just to check it out, I told myself. And I’m very much “go with the flow” these days, so I’m always up for a new experience.
(And yes, it is men and women separated, so it’s not THAT weird.)
In case you’ve never been to one of those nude baths before, here’s what happens:
Step 1: Yes, you are given two towels: a tiny one and a slightly bigger one. Luckily, I’m small in stature, so the bigger one was juuuust enough to wrap around my body and not expose any of the private parts. I insisted on keeping the towel wrapped around me, while everyone else happily walked around in their birthday suit.
Step 2: Then, you must take a shower in the wash area, which has a row of wash stations set up with shampoos, conditioner, body soap, etc. I went to the corner station and pretty much just faced the wall. And I must say that the products there gave me the softest hair ever the next day!
Step 3: After the wash, you’re ready to jump into the bath! I walked to the bath with the towel wrapped around me, stepped in, and then put the towel on the edge of the bath. So all good there, nothing too awkward.
Step 0: Let’s go back to Step 0, because this is the most important one… don’t look at anyone else! It’s actually not too hard to avert your eyes so you don’t see anything you don’t want to.
So that was it… the short version of the prude’s guide to nude public bathing. :P
After we’re all washed up, we went to the buffet dinner. It was pretty amazing as far as hotel buffet dinners go. The main reason why Auntie Hui chose this hotel was because my aunt wanted to eat crab, and my uncle wanted to eat beef. And this buffet dinner has both, along with all the other popular Japanese foods! A lot of king crab legs and roast beef were had, as well as beer, shoju, and sake.
Practical Information:
How to get there: Japanese railways are super annoyingly confusing. Luckily, Auntie Hui is familiar with it and so we just followed her. But here are some options:
- From Odawara: There are 4 railway companies operating out of this station, but I think this is the easiest: From Odawara Station, to go the Hakone-Yumoto Station (about 15 minutes) on the Odakyu/Hakone Tozan Railway line. Then from that station, take the Hakone Tozan Line (about 1 hour) up the mountain until it terminates at Gora Station. I know, SUPER confusing.
- From Tokyo: You can get to Odawara first on the Shinkansen if you want to use your Japan Rail Pass. You can start from either the Tokyo-Shinagawa Station or the Shin-Yokohama Station (both about 40 min). From there, follow the above steps on the Odakyu/Hakone Tozan Railway, which is not part of Japan Rail Pass. OR you can take the Odakyu Electric Railway from Shinjuku Station to Hakone-Yumoto (1.5 hr, not part of Japan Rail Pass).
Hours: Hakone Museum of Art is open daily from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm (4:00 pm December – March). You’ll want a good few hours because trust me, you’ll take pictures of EVERYTHING, and then especially if you want to visit the actual museum too.
Time to visit: November is the best time to visit for the fall colors.
Price: 900 yen, about US $9.
Have you been to Hakone? Have you ever had a weird public bath experience? Where did you see pretty autumn colors this fall?
Hahaha, omg! But you made it! The shot were everyone is laughing, even your grandma, is hilarious and cute! And let me say that those views were worth the climb. You all deserved a thermal bath after that!
They were definitely worth it! It’s not a bad climb just normally, but infinitely harder pushing a wheelchair, haha! But it gave us all such a fun memory of the trip!
This is a serious dose of true Autumn beauty, wow-we! And really such a treat for you having not experienced Autumn for such a long time!
I adore the photos, they tell such a story :) That hill was a real workout!
It was soooooo gorgeous! And of course everything in the garden is curated to perfection. Hehe the hill gave us something fun to laugh about for days!
Awww I love reading about your family, they seem so funny!! And all that fall foliage you captured is seriously gorgeous!
My Beijing family is seriously fun!! They all love new experiences and a lot of them have been/are in the travel business. So we always have a good time together!
Absolutely beautiful! I giggled at your description of SoCal! I’m from San Diego and remember my Christmases being warm to sightly less warm too haha and now I live in Germany and have 4 seasons, so I know exactly whatcha mean! #WanderfulWednesday
Yay fellow SoCal-er! It’s nice to have sunny moderate weather year round (which is why I’m loving being in Southeast Asia now), but you do really start to appreciate seasons! But of course, when it’s cold, you just go like “how I wish I were somewhere warm right now” hahah.
I love this post! Your family all look like they’re having a blast, and I love posts about family travel where everyone is a grown up (if you know what I mean?). It definitely has its unique challenges, like people wanting to eat different food and the trials and tribulations of wheelchairs! I am living for those shots of the garden though. What a sight! I would never have wanted to leave.
P.S. I am a big fan of moss, too :)
Haha yeah traveling as a family when we’re all adults is different than when some are kids. It’s probably more fun ;). The garden was soooo beautiful. I could easily have put double the photos in this post (because I took HUNDREDS), but I figured no one wants to see every single picture from every angle, haha.
Absolutely love the colors! They are just amazingly beautiful! And while I have no doubt the effort of pushing the wheelchair up the steep hill, it’s really adorable though! :)
Hehe it certainly gave everyone a good laugh (that’s us and everyone who we passed on the way)! I really think this was the most beautiful Japanese garden I’ve seen. We were there at just the right time for the colors!
Great story! Oh how I chuckled at the story of pushing your grandma’s wheelchair up the hill! Team effort – well done. I bet your grandma was enjoying herself! Also thanks for the guide regarding onsen. Because we’re going to Japan for a ski trip, those hot baths I think will be magic and what will help me ski the next day without my legs crumbling! So I’m going to have to face up to the concept of getting nude with a bunch of strangers! So weird. But I feel like I have to do it because, it’s Japan. My husband, on the other hand, is definitely NOT keen getting into a bath nude with a bunch of other guys. PS the autumn colours are beautiful! #wanderfulwednesday
Hahah my grandma felt really guilty that we all had to work so hard to get her up the hill. Yeah I figured I should try the onsen because it’s like the thing to do in Japan. Honestly, I don’t think I’d mind the nude bath if I were going alone or something, because you’ll never see anyone else again. It’s just so weird to do it with family!! But I just really didn’t look and walked around with the towel! I think westerners are a lot more prudish than Asians in regard to this hahaha.
Wow wow wow – your pictures are wonderful! What beautiful colours. Absolutely stunning!
Thanks Ali! It wasn’t hard to take nice photos because the garden was soooo beautiful! In fact, it’s way prettier in real life!
I am starting to love fall more and more. I think you saw my post about the fall colors in the Eastern Sierra, so, I am trying to embrace the season a little bit more. The thing is that in here we have tons of yellow but not a combination of yellow, orange and red. That is why I like you photos so much. They have a bot of everything. I do not know about the baths. Not sure if I would do them. #wanderfulwednesday
Oh the colors in Eastern Sierra looked gorgeous! I was in Beijing during fall too, but there was just some yellow and not as much red. The red is definitely the most stunning! The bath is pretty uncomfortable, but when in Japan… right? ;)
I’m a spring girl :) Autumn looks nice, but that’s about it. As for boots and jumpers, I pretty much go for that all year round haha!
Oh I love the photo through the train window, with the blurry bushes, it really gives the feeling of moving along. Plus, that train sounds like my dream train ride!
This looks AMAZING! The garden, not so much the nakedness. I love all the moss! It’s one of my favourite things to take photos of because it just makes everything look so alive.
Seriously gorgeous photos!
Yeah! I love taking photos of moss too. I was pretty impressed with my camera’s abilities actually! The train was really fun, though slightly less fun to stand cramped with a ton of other people on it for an hour hehe. But I love that picture too! I like spring too because it’s pastels and cute sundresses weather. But then again, that’s pretty much my entire wardrobe now here in Malaysia!
Oh I love your stories, they do make me smile :-) I had to laugh when you described the family pushing your Grandmother up the hill and you were taking photos (I know you helped afterwards, but it was still funny). Autumn/Fall is wonderful isn’t it, and I would be the same taking lots of photos (I think you captured your macro moss shot!). So did you feel liberated at all in the Japanese Thermal Bath once you had got over the whole “nude” thing (and well done to you as well)? (thank goodness male/female were separated!). When we were in Jamaica, we “dared to bare” and went to a nudist beach which was mixed, but we had no family members with us so it was fine (yes of course I have written about it, if you want to read my experience, have a read of “Letting it all hang out”). #feetdotravel
It did feel kind of liberating actually, once I was in the bath and could be more comfortable that no one can see my nakedness haha. I would do it again, but probably would feel less weird if I were alone.
Oh my, of course I HAD to go and read your nudist beach experience. I don’t think I could do that in broad daylight… and with people from all generations!!
I love lots of pictures so please never apologize for that. There is so much beauty to expose. Would love to wander through those gardens. Not sure I could do the thermal bath thing but, good on you for giving it a go.
Hehe, I was pretty nervous about the bath, but when in Japan :). I always go overboard with pictures…. this post could have easily been twice as long!
So so beautiful! I love autumn colours and was lucky enough to witness them in Japan last month. Your pictures look stunning and Hakone looks amazing – unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to go! Loved reading about your onsen experience!
Ooh you must have been in Japan at just the right time for the fall colors too! I was so amazed at how beautiful it is. I’m so glad i have an aunt who’s a local or otherwise, I would never have known about Hakone!
Really enjoyed this post and had me smiling with the team effort of navigating the hill! We travel with our Dad’s sometimes and know how difficult it can be with wheelchairs. Strange nude bathing with the family but your photo eating your meal shows all looking fresh and healthy! Great post thanks for sharing. #feetdotravel
Thanks! :) That’s so awesome that you guys travel with your dads in wheelchairs! I always love it when people don’t let small inconveniences stop them from traveling :), though we had to convince my grandma to try it. And yes, I realize it is very weird bathing with your family, but I honestly think it’s just normal in Japan (and certain other Asian countries with bathing culture). And I got good at just not looking. :)
I love the fall colors of the trees in your pictures. I haven’t been to Hakone but I did go to a public bath in Atlanta, Georgia. I was not as courageous as you and did not do the nude bath experience, I instead went to the co-ed sauna area where everyone is wearing a provided uniform.
That sounds like a fun experience too. I’ve been to some other public bathing places, but you wear a bathing suit. Unfortunately in Japan, it’s no bathing suits allowed!
Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to at least do it once for the experience!
Great story! Your photos are amazing! The colors just pop! Japan in the fall is now on my list! ;)
I feel like fall is such a good time to go to Japan (maybe 2nd after sakuras in the spring!). The weather is perfect and everywhere is so pretty. I hope you see it someday! :)
What a wonderful article with stunning fall photos and times made me chuckle. Great in formation and I have heard of the nude bathing experiences. After living in Korea for sometime that was a very popular thing to do is go to Thermal Baths. I have never been to a bath but I agree to divert your eyes is the best thing :-) Love how you were able to all get grandma up the hill. Thanks for sharing :-)
Oh yes I’ve heard about the baths in Korea too… they’re really elaborate! It’s not too hard to not look at anyone, so I would try it again. :) The memories of getting grandma up the hill is probably my favorite one of this trip!
This is a lovely post with great supporting photographs. The autumn colours of the trees are beautiful and I would really enjoy the garden! That is really a tough hill to push a wheelchair up! Thank you for sharing :-)
Thanks Sam! You would love the garden.. it is sooo beautiful and peaceful. And hehe it was hard work to get the wheelchair up the hill, but it gave us all such a fun memory and totally worth it!
WOW those colours are gorgeous! I visited a similar-sounding traditional bath-house like this in Singapore when I was 11 – old enough to find it a bit weird that everyone was naked!
Ahhhh that sounds so awkward to do when you’re only 11!! I’m assuming you went with family too?!
Ha yep – definitely employed the “avert your eyes” tactic!
I totally love the way Japan looks during the autumn! It’s so beautiful and it makes you feel so blessed to be there!! I would sip a pumpkin coffee when walking down the streets of Tokyo if I made it there again :).
That sounds like a perfect day! I’m so glad I finally got to see beautiful autumn colors after so long. We didn’t get to explore Tokyo itself too much this trip, but if I make it back there, I would love to just wander through the streets too!
Wow – what amazing colours!