Owakudani - Hakone's Volcanic Valley

View fullsize

Click image to expand…

In my last post, we talked about the black eggs of Owakudani, in Hakone, Japan. Now, let’s talk a little bit more about this volcanic valley, itself. This is the second half of my Owakudani blog series.

Owakudani is an active volcanic valley. There are sulfur vents around the entire area. The area it self is one of the stops along the Hakone Ropeway. It is only 2 stops away from Togendai station. Just hop on the Hakone Ropeway at Togendai station, ride past Ubako station, and stop at Owakudani. As you approach, you’ll start to SMELL the area from pretty far away. Sulfur.

There are sulfur vents all over the area. You’ll see the clouds of steam and gas rising as you approach. It almost looks like another planet. It also smells terrible. It smells like rotten eggs due to the sulfur. When you arrive, you’ll land at a really nice visitor’s center. There is a fantastic gift shop, where I definitely recommend getting some fun souvenirs, but there is a second shop, so don’t buy too much just yet. Then, you’ll step outside, and you’ll see it…

There is a huge valley off to the south/southeast of the ropeway station with the sulfur mine. They are efficiently mining the sulfur like a well oiled machine. It is a bright yellow green color and smoky. If you stay on the ropeway and head to the next station, you’ll get to see the full view of the mine.

Continue along the path, and you’ll find another gift shop. This one has even more souvenirs. This is also where you can get the famous black eggs, cooked in the volcanic hot springs. From here, you’ll have a great view of Mount Fuji.

If you continue to walk, you’ll find a ramen shop and some other food vendors. We bought a nice hot cup of amazake from one of those vendors on a super cold day. Amazake is a sweet, low-alcohol sake. It kind of tastes like horchata, if you’ve ever had that before, except that this store sold it hot. It was kind of like a hot, cinnamon sugar rice milk with a hint of alcohol. It was delicious, especially since it was so cold.

From this point, there is a small shrine that leads off to a trail up the mountain. Unfortunately, on particularly bad sulfur days, the trail is shut. Each time that I have been there, it has been closed due to the bad volcanic sulfur activity. However, I hear that it is a nice hike.

Overall, this area is amazing. It really does feel other-worldly. I definitely recommend checking it out when you go to Hakone. And definitely… try those black eggs.

Owakudani's Black Eggs

In the mountains of Hakone, lies a volcanic valley with live sulfur vents, called Owakudani. Owakudani’s claim to fame is their “kuro tamago” or black eggs. This post will be the first of a two-part series on Owakudani, and this time, we’re going to talk all about these special eggs.

The “kuro tamago” is a normal, standard chicken egg. The only difference is that it has been hard boiled in the hot spring waters of Owakudani. Because the hot springs are filled with so much sulfur, the outside of the eggshell turns black like coal. But don’t worry, the inside is still your typical egg.

These lucky black eggs are said to add on 7 years to your life for every egg you eat! I ate 5 of these, so I am in for a long healthy life! These eggs are so famous, that they even have a statue of the black egg in front of the visitor center.

I ate my eggs with a little bit of salt while sitting on some nice benches that look out at Mount Fuji in the distance. From this vantage point, you can see the giant mountain perfectly on a clear day. After cracking open the egg, there is nothing unusual about it. Once you get past the black shell, everything else is normal.

The eggs were still hot and the air was cool and crisp with the mountain climate. It was the perfect combination. I have never enjoyed a hardboiled egg as much as I did in that moment. If you are ever in the Owakudani area, you have to try it!

Stay tuned for more details on Owakudani in the next part of this series. We will talk about the terrain, views, and other sites to see in this volcanic valley.

Hakone Crafthouse - Glass Bead Art

Thanks for checking in on part 3 of my series about Hakone Gora Park. If you haven’t checked it out yet, check out my post about Hakone Gora Park overall and also my post about Glass Blowing.

Today, we are going to talk about another craft workshop to experience at Hakone Gora Park… Glass bead-making at Hakone Crafthouse! This was especially exciting because you can incorporate your glass bead into tons of items at the end of this process… a necklace, key chain, bracelet, charm, hair accessory, etc. Hakone Crafthouse is a craft workshop experience inside of Hakone Gora Park that offers activities such as glass blowing, pottery, glass etching, and of course today’s topic, glass bead making.

First, you’ll select your glass color and what type of pattern you’d like to make on the glass bead. The first time I visited, I made a turquoise glass bead with gold accents. The second time, I chose pink with polka dots and gold. They have tons of color and pattern options. Then, you sit down with your instructor one-on-one. They put safety gear on you and set you up in front of a blow torch and some supplies and walk you through the entire process.

First, you begin by heating a metal rod that you will wrap molten glass around to create your bead shape. Then, you begin to heat long colorful sticks of glass over the flame. As the glass begins to melt, you’ll slowly allow it to drip onto the metal rod, as you rotate the rod. This will start to create a ball shape around the end of the metal rod. You’ll keep adding layers and layers of the hot liquid glass over the flame, making sure to shape the bead with gravity as you go.

Then, you’ll roll the molten bead through gold leaf and heat it in the flame again. If you’re adding polka dots, you’ll lay out tiny little glass pieces of different colors and roll them onto the bead you’re creating. At the end, you’ll heat it all up nicely in the flame and rotate it evenly, so that you have a nice round bead. Then, it needs to cool. While it cooled, we took a break, grabbed a snack, and explored the park a bit.

Finally, it was time to turn our bead into an accessory! As the staff preps your bead, you’ll pick your accent beads or charms to add to your accessory. For my necklace, I picked some lovely gold and turquoise accent beads to complement the hand-crafted bead. For the key chain, I stuck with the pink and gold theme and picked cute golden charms and pink beads to match the lovely gold key chain.

Then, you get to assemble the bead and your accents all onto the accessory. In the end, I had a lovely, handmade souvenir that I was really proud of. It’s definitely a conversation starter, and you can honestly say you crafted it yourself in Japan!

This is such a fulfilling experience. Both men and women were doing this activity, especially since they had other unisex items like key chains that even the men could enjoy crafting.

If you enjoyed this post, please check out my other posts about the activities at Hakone Gora Park, including glass blowing. This entire park was a whole day experience that I will never forget. If you’re going to Hakone, this park is a must-see attraction.

Hakone Crafthouse - Glass Blowing

This is part two in my series about Hakone Gora Park. Check out my post about the park overall. I’ll also be releasing one more post about the park.

This time, let’s talk about glass blowing! One of the best parts of Hakone Gora Park is the Hakone Crafthouse. I can (and did) spend the whole day here. Crafthouse offers several different types of craft options including glass blowing, glass bead/jewelry making, pottery, glass etching, and glass engraving. For today’s post, we’ll focus on the glass blowing.

First, you sign in at the front desk and choose what type of item you’d like to craft. They have different shapes and sizes of cups, mugs, vases, etc that you can choose from. Then, you pick your glass accent colors and what type of design you’d like to make. I chose turquoise and light green accent colors. I also selected an option for glow in the dark speckles.

Then, you’ll enter the crafting area. One wall of the crafting area is all open patio doors, so it really lets in the mountain vibes. You’ll sit down at a workbench as the worker preps the ball of molten glass on a long metal pole. He’ll also lay out the pieces for the accent color option you selected. You start by shaping the glass blob, and beginning to blow the blob up with a little bit of air. The staff then roll your glass through the accent color pieces and heat it again for you.

Then, you’ll alternate back and forth between shaping the piece, heating the piece, and adding more glass. The staff helps you and instructs you how to create the perfect shape the entire time (English is also available). You’ll use many different tools, such as a wet wooden paddle, newspaper, and small wood piece. Eventually, you start to see the piece take shape. At the end, they’ll make sure to even out any mistakes so that your piece looks nice.

I absolutely loved the whole process. It was peaceful but also creative, working with hot glass in the cool mountain scenery. It was also exciting to try something new. In the end, when your piece is all finished, they’ll even mail your craft back to your home, halfway around the world. When I returned home from Japan, my creation actually beat me home and was waiting for me in the locked mailbox. And I love how the cup turned out!

I definitely recommend doing this activity. It is a great way to spend the day. If you like this post, stay tuned for my last post in this Hakone Gora Park series, coming soon. We’ll be talking about bead/jewelry making with lampwork.

Hakone Gora Park - More Than a Park

About an hour and a half from Tokyo, you’ll find Hakone and Gora. These two mountain towns are a must see for those who love the Japanese hot springs (also called onsen). Between the breathtaking mountain views and the relaxing hot waters, this area will make you feel refreshed and rejuvenated. From many parts of town, you can even see Mount Fuji.

One of my favorite places in this area is a lovely park called Hakone Gora Park. It is right off of the Hakone Tozan Cable Car line, a block from the Koen Shimo Station.

This is so much more than just a park. This is an all day experience. Seriously. I suggest you plan to spend the whole day here. It costs 500 yen to enter, or about $5 USD. That is definitely worth the price! In this park, besides the park itself, there are botanical gardens, a tea ceremony house, a craft park with multiple types of craft workshops you can try, 3 restaurants, and even a gift shop. The entire park is a registered national monument due to its value.

The botanical garden consists of several indoor greenhouses with unique environments in each. It is beautifully decorated with flowers in every building. You will even find fountains throughout the botanical garden, which adds to the relaxing sounds around you.

Next is the park itself. This park has something to see during all parts of the year. There are flowers during the warmer months, cherry blossom trees in the spring, fall leaves, winter snowy views, and even a holiday display!

There are 3 food options: 2 cafes and 1 sweets shop. We tried some delicious rose ice cream during the spring at the sweets shop and dined at one cafe in the afternoon. The food was delicious at both places we tried. We even ate our ice cream by the fountain.

We did not get to experience the tea house. We ran out of time spending most of our day crafting. It looked very nice, though.

Now, the crafts. You can choose from several craft workshops and try your hand at making something new. Each craft workshop has a fee, but you get to take home what you make. We did glass blowing and glass bead making/jewelry making, which I will write about in an upcoming post. They also had pottery, glass etching, and floral arrangements when we were there. The crafts really make this place special. You can make your own souvenir and remember the experience every time you use the item. If you rather buy something pre-made, you can also check out the amazing work of their local artists in the gift shop.

Definitely check out my upcoming blog posts for more on glass blowing and glass bead making in the park. And put Hakone Gora Park on your list to check out, next time you visit Japan.