Lake Ashi

Ashinoko fills a caldera formed about three thousand years ago when the side of Kamiyama collapsed and dammed the valley, and it is the centre of the Hakone loop - the circuit of train, cable car, ropeway, ship and bus that most visitors ride round in a day. The picture everyone wants is the Heiwa no Torii, the vermilion gate of Hakone Shrine standing in the shallows on the eastern shore, with Mount Fuji behind it across the water; the queue to photograph it can be an hour long, and Fuji is hidden more often than not. Sightseeing ships got up as pirate galleons cross between Togendai, Hakonemachi and Moto-Hakone. The old Tokaido road ran along this shore and a section of it survives under cedars, with a reconstructed checkpoint at Hakonemachi that shows how travel on the road was controlled.

What you actually see

• The lake torii - a vermilion gate standing in the water on the eastern shore.
• Fuji across the water - when the cloud allows, most reliably in winter.
• The pirate ships - sightseeing vessels crossing between the three piers.
• The old Tokaido - a cedar-lined section of the historic road with a checkpoint.

When to go

November to February for clear Fuji; all year otherwise. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Fuji is hidden by cloud a great deal of the time, especially in summer. The queue for the torii photograph is long and controlled. The whole Hakone loop is expensive without a pass. Volcanic activity at Owakudani has closed sections of the loop in the past.

Nearby

Owakudani is north over the ropeway; Hakone-Yumoto is east down the valley.