The area has lots of steps to the shrine to be prepared to walk.
It wasn't too busy on a weekend at 10am in the summer.
The shrine was well kept but quite touristy. There is a queue to take a photo of the main gate along the river. It gives people 3 mins per slot which means the queue builds up.
There are toilets and a restaurant at the sight.
Cute little shrine in Hakone, next to Lake Ashinoko. As you can imagine, there's a lot of people throughout the entire day so expect a lot of crowds.
If you want to take a famous photo with the Torii gate in the water, be prepared to wait as there's a long line.
I personally don't think it's that worth it, but if you're main objective is to take souvenir photos, it's well worth passing by.
Note that you can take a taxi to the very top of the shrine, that way you can just walk down to the bottom rather then go up and then back down.
Hakone Shrine has a calm, beautiful atmosphere that makes the visit feel special. Walking over from the bus stop by the docks was a nice way to arrive, and the path added to the experience. The torii gates are definitely popular for photos, so patience helps, but people were considerate and even helped each other take pictures, which kept things moving smoothly.
Beautiful traditional japanese shrine. Arrived at 0745 by bus from hakone yumoto. Theres a very nice walk up the temple steps through several torii gates. It was very quiet before 8am. You can get 3 goshuin here but no limited edition / seasonal goshuin are currently on offer.
Highly recommended
I’m giving it a 4… It could have been absolutely spectacular because the place is a true gift of nature, with an amazing view 😍.
But unfortunately, it’s not prepared at all for having a picnic. We brought everything to have dinner while enjoying the scenery, and we ended up eating inside the car 🚙, uncomfortably 😖😖.
In the end, it completely ruined our plan to enjoy the lake and the mountains 🏔️.
There are people fishing, which I think is great, but there’s nowhere to actually sit and appreciate the beauty of the place — the gorgeous mountains, the lovely lake, the pirate ship 🏴☠️…
This area has so much potential. It could be an amazing experience, but right now it really falls short.