Ropeway - Blog Posts

What to do at Ôwakudani

... or what to do on the summit of an active volcano. As inauspicious as that sounds, as long as Mount Hakone's activity can be described as moderate (localised fumaroles and hot springs) and a full-blown eruption doesn't happen, and that hasn't happened in thousands of years, it's possible to settle some permanent attractions. The Ropeway is undoubtedly one of them, and the Geomuseum, housing explanations about the mountain's history and geological peculiarities, was a very pertinent addition 10 years ago.

However, the summit's biggest draw has to be its black eggs. No, black eggs aren't what you get when you raise chickens at the top of an active volcano, but it's what you get when you boil eggs in the natural volcanic spring water on Mount Hakone.

So a few restaurants have popped up in Ôwakudani to serve these curious delicacies. To be clear, it's just the shells that turn black due to the minerals in the hot spring water; they still protect the inside from those minerals, and the egg cooks perfectly normally, and the edible parts are still white and yellow. Apparently, I don't eat hard-boiled eggs.

The eggs are cooked in the steaming plant next to this fumarole further up the hill. It can be visited via a trail through some less stable ground. If I remember correctly, this trail is only open at certain times for a limited number of people at a time. Although it's only 300 metres from the main part of Ôwakudani, half a dozen shelters have been installed in case of emergency (one such concrete structure can be seen behind the steaming plant).

But how do the eggs get up there if the trail isn't always open? With their own lovely little ropeway! White eggs go up, black eggs come down, ready to be served in the restaurants!