Just about 90 minutes from Tokyo aboard the Odakyu Romancecar, Hakone reveals itself as something far richer than a hot spring resort. It's a rare cultural landscape where architecture, art, and nature intertwine in ways you simply won't find anywhere else. A Japanese ryokan operates on an entirely different philosophy from Western hotels — these spaces aren't designed merely for sleeping, but for immersing you in the air, culture, and living history of a place. And in Hakone, that philosophy reaches its most refined expression, drawing thoughtful travelers from around the world who are looking for something genuinely meaningful.
Among Hakone's most architecturally compelling stays, Gora Kadan stands in a category of its own. Situated on the former summer retreat of the Kan-in no Miya imperial family in Gora Onsen, this ryokan was designed by architect Sei Takeyama, whose most iconic contribution is a 120-meter colonnaded corridor — entirely enclosed in glass, dissolving the boundary between interior and the surrounding natural world (*1).
The Kan-in no Miya (閑院宮家) was one of Japan's historic imperial branch families, whose members moved among the highest circles of political and financial influence during the Meiji and Taisho eras. In 1930, Prince Kan-in Kotohito built this site as a summer villa, and after the war, it was reimagined as the ryokan you can stay in today (*2). From the "moon-viewing terrace" at the end of the colonnade, you can take in the ridgeline of the Hakone outer volcanic ring and the commanding silhouette of Myojogatake — the mountain that once hosted great bonfire festivals — a quietly moving dialogue between Japanese nature and architecture.
Then there is Hakone Retreat före, a more secluded presence tucked into Hakone's forest. Originally opened in 1997 as an annex to a long-established inn, it is now operated by Onko Chishin, a company specializing in the revitalization of hospitality spaces (*3). The architecture here leans fully into the unique topography and natural landscape of its surroundings, creating a stay that feels genuinely removed from the rhythms of city life. Hakone is scattered with ryokan like these — places where the building itself becomes the destination — and for those drawn to architecture and art, there is always something new to discover, no matter how many times you return.
The value of a great ryokan doesn't stop at the facade. Throughout Gora Kadan, ikebana — traditional Japanese flower arrangements — change with the seasons, offering a quiet, living expression of refined Japanese aesthetics. Guest reviews frequently mention the beautiful flower arrangements placed throughout the inn, and it's clear that this attention to floral art has become inseparable from the experience of staying there (*4).
Hakone as a whole has cultivated a unique cultural landscape where traditional craft and accommodation are deeply intertwined. At KAI Hakone, the special "Hakone Gokochi no Ma" rooms are adorned with yosegi-zaiku marquetry throughout — intricate geometric woodwork inspired by the tools carried by travelers along the old Tokaido road, where each room quietly tells its own story (*5).
KAI Sengokuharatakes this a step further with its "Sengokuhara Atelier no Ma" — a room brought to life by artwork created by artists who actually stayed at the inn, drawing their inspiration from the natural and cultural landscape of Sengokuhara and Hakone (*5). Spending time in this space feels something like seeing Hakone through an artist's eyes — an experience that stays with you long after you've checked out.
Staying at a ryokan is not simply a matter of finding somewhere beautiful to sleep. At its best, it's one of the most hands-on, genuinely educational cultural encounters you can have in Japan — a chance to engage directly with traditional crafts and the philosophical underpinnings of Japanese aesthetics. Hakone offers a remarkable range of programs that let you do exactly that: learn yosegi marquetry from working craftspeople, practice the art of tea ceremony, and discover the meditative world of ikebana — all within the context of your stay.
Yosegi-zaiku — Hakone's most celebrated traditional craft — is, as the name suggests, the art of bringing wood together. Using the extraordinary variety of timber species native to the Hakone mountain range, craftspeople combine woods of different colors and grain patterns to produce more than 100 distinct geometric designs of remarkable intricacy (*1). The technique traces its origins to the late Edo period, when a craftsman named Ishikawa Jinei (1790–1850) brought skills he had learned in Shizuoka back to Hakone, adapting them to the region's exceptional range of local timbers (*2).
Among the most beloved expressions of this craft is the Himitsu-bako: a small container that opens only when its sides are slid in a precise sequence, a quietly mesmerizing feat of craftsmanship (*3). These puzzle boxes became cherished souvenirs for travelers passing through Hakone's post towns along the old Tokaido highway, and they remain one of the most satisfying things you can bring home today. Learning to make one directly from a working artisan is the kind of experience that goes well beyond sightseeing — it's a genuine encounter with a living tradition.
Chado/Sado is far more than a set of elegant manners around a teacup. It is a complete aesthetic and philosophical system — one that was codified by the 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyu and remains animated by the concept of ichi-go ichi-e (一期一会): the understanding that every meeting is singular, unrepeatable, and therefore deserving of full presence. Practicing tea ceremony at one of Hakone's storied ryokan offers you a direct way into the heart of this philosophy — not as a museum exhibit, but as something you actually do.
At KAI Hakone, the spirit of the teahouse culture that sustained travelers crossing the most demanding stretch of the old Tokaido highway is kept alive through a dedicated rest space called "Sawa Chaya" — a place conceived for rest, warmth, and quiet gathering in the tradition of the roadside tea houses that once lined the mountain route (*4).
At Gora Kadan, the connection to tea culture runs even deeper. The Gora area of Hakone was a favored retreat for the tea connoisseurs (sukisha) of the Meiji and Taisho periods, and this legacy is palpable throughout the inn — most tangibly in the kaiseki dinners, which are rooted in the tradition of cha-kaiseki: the refined meal originally offered to guests before a tea gathering, in which the spirit of tea pervades every ingredient, every vessel, and every gesture (*5).
Kado ( the Way of Flowers) is another dimension of Japanese artistic culture that reveals itself naturally during a ryokan stay. Like the Way of Tea, ikebana is not about decorating a room — it is a meditative practice that uses the language of ma (間) — space, interval, and negative space — to create a dialogue with nature. You encounter this sensibility in the arrangements greeting you at the entryway and lobby of a well-curated ryokan, where the choice of flowers, vessel, and placement shifts with each season. Each arrangement effectively sets the mood of the entire inn for that day — a form of living art that changes as naturally as the weather outside.
Hakone is sometimes called "an open-air museum without walls" — and it's an apt description. Throughout this landscape of mountains, forests, and hot spring valleys, world-class art spaces appear almost as naturally as the scenery itself. Here are the two essential museums to build your days around during a ryokan stay.
The Hakone Open-Air Museum, which opened in 1969, holds the distinction of being Japan's first outdoor sculpture museum. Spread across approximately 70,000 square meters of lush hillside gardens, it presents around 120 permanently installed works by leading sculptors of the modern and contemporary eras — a setting where you experience art in ongoing conversation with Hakone's surrounding peaks (*1).
A route worth considering moves from the outdoor sculptures → the Moore Collection → the Symphony Sculpture → and finally the Picasso Pavilion. As you pass through the entrance, the outdoor works make an immediate impression — among them, French artist Fernand Léger's Walking Flower, a six-meter-tall burst of color that is among the most visually striking pieces on the grounds. From there, you move into the area dedicated to British sculptor Henry Moore, where organically formed bronzes catch the natural light in ways that simply cannot be replicated indoors (*2).
Don't leave without stepping inside The Symphonic Sculpture) by French artist Gabriel Loire: an 18-meter-tall cylindrical structure whose interior is entirely wrapped in hand-cut stained glass. As you climb the spiral staircase at its center, the light shifting through the glass creates an experience somewhere between a natural phenomenon and a sacred space (*3). Then make your way to the Picasso Pavilion, which has been presenting its collection since 1984 — 188 ceramic works purchased from Picasso's daughter Maya as its core, complemented by paintings, prints, sculptures, and tapestries totaling 319 pieces (*4). Most visitors know Picasso as a Cubist painter, but he threw himself into ceramics with extraordinary intensity from his mid-60s onward — and the collection here is among the rarest opportunities in the world to encounter that late, overlooked chapter of his work. The museum is just a two-minute walk from Hakone Tozan Railway's Chokoku-no-Mori station, making it easy to reach from most ryokan in the area (*1).
Nestled in the deep forest of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, the Pola Museum of Art opened in September 2002 with a guiding philosophy of "the coexistence of art and the natural world of Hakone" (*5). Most of the building is set underground, yet large glazed walls fill the interiors with abundant light and a constant sense of immersion in the surrounding greenery — architecture that achieves a rare harmony between environmental sensitivity and genuine aesthetic ambition.
The collection at its heart was assembled over roughly 40 years by Tsuneji Suzuki, the second-generation head of the Pola cosmetics founding family. It now encompasses approximately 10,000 works. The Impressionist holdings are considered among the finest in Japan, bringing together paintings by Monet — including his iconic Water Lily Pond — alongside Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Picasso in a single sustained encounter that feels genuinely extraordinary (*6). More recently, the museum has expanded its commitment to contemporary artists including Gerhard Richter and Roni Horn, allowing you to trace the arc of art history from the 19th century to the present day without leaving the building.
After your visit, the forest trail surrounding the museum — approximately one kilometer winding through beech trees and stewartia — is an ideal way to let what you've seen settle (*7). Birdsong, rustling leaves, and quiet encounters with outdoor sculpture make for an unhurried kind of reflection that a busy gallery circuit rarely affords. A free shuttle bus connects Hakone Tozan Railway's Gora Station to the museum roughly every 30 minutes, making it a comfortable excursion from wherever you're staying (*7).
At the finest ryokan, a guest room is not simply a place to sleep. It is a habitable work of art — a space where Japanese aesthetics and artisanal skill converge into something you live inside rather than merely observe. Hakone's high-end ryokan embody a set of values that no luxury hotel chain, however accomplished, quite replicates.
The elements that define a traditional Japanese guest room are deceptively simple and endlessly thoughtful. Tatami — mats woven from igusa rush grass — release a subtle, grounding fragrance underfoot and offer a gentle resilience that you feel immediately when you walk barefoot across them. Shoji screens, with their translucent washi paper set in delicate wooden lattice, don't merely cover windows: they filter daylight into something diffuse and luminous, functioning as architectural instruments for shaping the quality of light within a space. These are not decorative holdovers from the past — they are intelligent, considered solutions to the art of inhabiting a room beautifully.
Sukiya-zukuri represents the highest expression of this sensibility (*1). Originating in the aesthetic of the Japanese tea house and applied to residential architecture, it is a style defined above all by restraint — the elimination of superfluous ornament in favor of the inherent beauty of natural materials, and a deep investment in the quality of space between things. The gently gnarled pillar of natural timber, the delicate pierced-wood ranma transom panel above the sliding doors (the ranma is a decorative carved panel fitted between the ceiling and the lintel), the tokonoma alcove with its seasonal flower arrangement — together, these elements create a kind of pared-back elegance that you might, with some thought, recognize as a precursor to modern minimalism.
Gora Kadan's rooms are celebrated as pioneers of wa-modern — the fusion of traditional Japanese design with Western sensibility. The detached imperial suite unfolds from a spacious 12.5-tatami main room into an adjoining chamber, with select rooms featuring a private bath crafted from Aomori hiba cypress and a steam sauna (*2). The inn also holds the distinction of being among the first ryokan in Japan to introduce private open-air baths attached to individual rooms (*3) — helping to establish the now-iconic model of soaking in a natural hot spring within the complete privacy of your own quarters.
For travelers who care about both quality and environmental impact, the amenities a ryokan provides are one of the clearest windows into its guiding philosophy. Hakone's finest establishments go well beyond stocking prestigious brand-name products — their choices are shaped by a considered relationship with the land, materials, and ethics that define the inn as a whole.
Under the KAI brand operated by Hoshino Resorts, the group has made a group-wide shift from individually packaged toiletries to pump-dispensed bottles, eliminating approximately 49 tonnes of plastic packaging annually — a clear demonstration that environmental commitment and high-quality hospitality are not mutually exclusive (*4). What goes into the bathroom cabinet turns out to reflect something significant about who a ryokan is and what it stands for.
There is also a growing appreciation for the skin-care properties of Hakone's own natural spring waters. Gora Kadan's private hot spring source produces mildly alkaline water long celebrated for its benefits to the complexion, and this quality of water becomes an intrinsic part of the amenity experience during your stay (*5) — making the entire visit, in a quiet but genuine sense, an extended act of self-care.
Soaking in mineral-rich waters of a kind unavailable anywhere else in the world, surrounded by thoughtfully chosen products that respect both your skin and the environment — the luxury that Hakone's ryokan offer is built from exactly this kind of layered, considered attention to detail.
In Japanese culinary culture, kaiseki-ryori is not simply a meal. It is a complete artistic practice — one in which Japanese aesthetics, seasonal philosophy, and the spirit of hospitality are expressed through every single course. As the highest expression of washoku (Japanese cuisine, recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage), kaiseki finds some of its most memorable stages in the dining rooms of Hakone's finest ryokan.
The origins of kaiseki reach back to the tea ceremony. Its predecessor, cha-kaiseki, was the light meal once offered to guests before a tea gathering to ease their hunger — structured around the foundational Japanese form of ichiju sansai: one soup, three sides. From those roots grew the full kaiseki sequence you encounter today: sakizuke (amuse-bouche), hassun (seasonal tray), mukouzuke (sashimi), wanmono (soup), yakimono (grilled dish), takiawase (simmered course), shinko (side dish), and a closing of rice and miso (*1).
At Gora Kadan, the head chef's kaiseki draws on carefully sourced ingredients from across Japan, paired with the freshest catch from Sagami Bay and Suruga Bay, composing a menu that changes with the seasons and has earned consistent critical acclaim (*2). Also of particular note: the inn houses Sushi Kadan, supervised by the renowned Ginza restaurant Sushi Yoshitake (a Michelin three-star institution), offering you the chance to experience the mastery of Edomae sushi as an integral part of your ryokan stay (*3). Meals at Gora Kadan are typically served in your room — the traditional heya-shoku style — meaning you dine in the quiet of your own tatami room, looking out over the garden, with the full drama of the kaiseki unfolding at your own pace.
At Hakone Kamon, the kitchen has maintained since its founding a commitment to menus that change every single month (*4). Rather than rotating through broad seasonal themes, the chefs conceive entirely new menus each month to capture the precise, incremental shifts within a season — the particular quality of early spring compared to its middle, for example. Local ingredients are central to this philosophy: golden eye snapper and aji from Odawara port, umeboshi from Soga's plum groves, and freshly boiled whitebait from Shonan all make regular appearances.
These chefs are, in the truest sense, artists working with ingredients as their medium. The ethos of selecting the right vessel for each dish — with some head chefs visiting ceramic artists across Japan to choose pieces individually — means that the kaiseki experience encompasses not just flavor but the full arc of Japanese material culture (*4).
Alongside the grandeur of kaiseki, the lounges and in-house cafés of Hakone's ryokan offer a more relaxed, equally refined entry point into Japanese food culture. Wagashi — traditional Japanese confections — have their roots in the tea ceremony, where they were originally served to balance the bitterness of matcha. Each piece is a small seasonal artwork: a distillation of the moment, shaped by hand and colored with restraint.
At Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu, the Bar & Lounge faces the garden and offers seasonal sweets and drinks in an atmosphere made for quiet adult pleasures (*5). In winter, a collaboration with the Hakone Glass Forest Museum transforms the space entirely, filling it with Venetian glass installations and serving original cocktails and confections inspired by the play of light through glass — a moment where art and gastronomy genuinely merge (*6).
The wagashi you encounter at these ryokan lounges rewards a closer look. Nerikiri — a fresh confection made from white bean paste worked together with gyuhi (a soft, mochi-like sweetener) — is shaped by hand into flowers, leaves, and seasonal forms of quiet precision, served alongside a bowl of matcha. Once you understand the craft behind each piece — the knowledge of seasons, the years of practice, the deliberate connection to a centuries-old tradition — a single small sweet starts to feel less like a snack and more like a sculpture you're privileged to eat.
Hakone's exceptional landscapes are not just a backdrop — they are the entire reason this place exists as a destination. Situated within Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, the ryokan and hotels here have long operated with a higher-than-average awareness of their environmental responsibilities. From EV charging infrastructure to waste reduction programs, a genuine culture of sustainability is quietly taking root across the region.
The electric vehicle has come to embody both a technological sensibility and a considered approach to travel — and in Japan, adoption is accelerating. In Hakone, several properties have now made meaningful investments in EV charging infrastructure, making a drive through the region's mountain scenery an increasingly viable option for drivers who want to travel with a lighter footprint.
Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort & Spahas confirmed EV charging facilities on-site, including dedicated Tesla charging equipment — a reflection of the property's commitment to meeting the expectations of environmentally conscious international guests (*1).
Hakone Sengokuhara Prince Hotel has installed two 6kW standard-speed chargers within the constraints of its setting inside a national park, and these are available to guests and non-guests alike (*2). The property has framed EV charging as part of its broader engagement with the SDGs rather than simply an infrastructure upgrade — the chargers are an expression of a wider intent (*3). REGINA RESORT HAKONE-SENGOKUHARA offers two 8kW AC chargers that are compatible with standard Tesla charging as well (*4).
The picture across Hakone is still evolving rapidly, and it's worth checking directly with your chosen property before an EV trip — the situation on the ground continues to improve.
Hakone's commitment to sustainability extends to the municipal level. The town has developed a formal Hakone Town SDGs Promotion Plan, with the stated aim of remaining a place that people both want to live in and return to as visitors — a destination that earns its welcome over the long term (*5).
The most visible and sustained example of sustainability leadership in Hakone comes from Hoshino Resorts, whose group-wide initiative — playfully titled "Katte ni SDGs" ("SDGs, Our Way") — is structured around three pillars: zero emissions (targeting zero incinerated or landfilled waste), the use of renewable energy, and the promotion of ecotourism (*6).
At the group's flagship property Hoshinoya Karuizawa, a combination of hydroelectric power and heat recovered from spent hot spring water now meets approximately 70% of the facility's energy needs — an achievement recognized with the Minister of the Environment Award for Green Purchasing (*7).
Across the KAI brand properties in Hakone, this philosophy translates directly into the guest experience: the elimination of individually packaged toiletries saves approximately 49 tonnes of plastic annually; used toothbrushes are collected for recycling; and surplus produce from local farms is incorporated into menus to reduce food waste — all without compromising the quality of the stay (*8).
Choosing a ryokan in Hakone that actively works to preserve the landscapes you came here to enjoy is, in its quiet way, a meaningful act. The mountains, forests, and hot springs of this region deserve to be here for generations of travelers still to come — and a growing number of ryokan are making sure they will be.
A stay at a Hakone ryokan reaches far beyond any conventional idea of accommodation. You wake in a room where architecture and history breathe together, spend an afternoon learning yosegi marquetry from a craftsperson whose family has practiced the technique for generations, and sit down in the evening to a kaiseki dinner composed by a chef who thinks of every bowl and lacquered tray as an act of artistic intention.
World-class art spaces — the Hakone Open-Air Museum and the Pola Museum of Art among them — are woven into the landscape just beyond your window. The doors to the Way of Tea and the Way of Flowers open naturally, guided by the attentive hospitality of the ryokan staff. These experiences accumulate into something qualitatively different from ordinary travel — a depth of engagement that stays with you in a way that sightseeing rarely does.
And when you choose a ryokan that is actively working to protect the extraordinary environment that makes Hakone what it is — through meaningful environmental commitments, thoughtful sourcing, and a genuine investment in sustainability — the journey itself becomes a form of quiet advocacy for a place worth preserving.
Just 90 minutes from Tokyo, the most refined and considered face of Japanese culture is waiting for you. A stay at a Hakone ryokan has a way of transforming travel into something closer to what it can be at its very best: a genuine, unhurried encounter with a world that rewards curiosity and repays attention.