Owakudani - Hakone's Volcanic Valley

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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.