In Hakone

---

Another local train ride to connect with the Shinkansen to Tokyo and on to Hakone eventually. Made our first train with literally seconds to spare due to a mix up with the taxi times - and yes there was more origami (grumble grumble😊).

Hakone is a national park area where there are a number of villages - it is popular as an onsen/spa setting, and also as a viewing point for Mt Fuji. Very rainy and overcast while we were here,so no sign of Mt Fuji. This is not unusual - Fuji is referred to as being shy.

Instead of hiking in the rain, we decided to visit some museums, and we made it as far as one😊. We visited the Art Museum here, which is a bit of a misnomer since they have lots of artifacts like samurai armour and rifles etc. We were the only ones there and the staff were over the moon apparently - they even called in a kendo sensai (kendo is a form of martial arts using sticks) and gave us the grand tour - for about 4 hours. They actually let us all try on the samurai armour (and spar with the kendo sensai - it should come as no surprise to you that I am much better at hitting things than folding delicate bits of paper😊 ). It originally felt like an incredibly touristy thing to do, but it was such a blast - and hey, we are tourists after all.

They also showed us the tea ceremony, and alllowed us to participate in an edited version. Then followed a very animated tour involving the unlocking of cases and passing around of some very impressive artifacts. Even the security guard got involved - they kept shooing him back to the entrance but he would end up back in the midst of things with a huge grin on his face. They were outstanding and very kind and generous with us.

We split up to spend the afternoon on our own pursuits and I took a switchback train (did I mention that Japan is very mountainous??) to an area of Hakone where there is an outdoor art museum. It was a very beautiful setting with many unique sculptures surrounded by awesome gardens and mountains. Also had the world's best sushi (and inari) there. And then I caught a ropeway and cable car over the mountains and back to the lakeside village we are staying in. Good thing it was very foggy so I couldn't see how far I would fall if these things gave out.

We leave later today to head to Takayama. We are very lucky with our timing on this portion of the trip since there is a huge festival on there. I don't know too much about it, other than it partially involves some floats that are actually declared national treasures. It should be a complete zoo since the population swells 3 fold during this time!

Be well

---

Photos

Warrior princess..
Look out Marg Delahunty