Hikes in Japan: The Mt. Kintoki Trail (Upper Trailhead)

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: Mt. Kintaro Trail (Upper Trailhead)
• Location: Hakone, Japan
• Distance: 2.0 miles (3.2 km)
• Max Elevation: 3,976 feet (1,212 m)
• Elevation Gain: 1,083 feet (330 meters)
• Time: 2-3 hours
• Difficulty: Medium
• More Information: 30 Day Hikes Near Tokyo

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

Trains and buses run regularly to Hakone from the Tokyo area and can take about 2 hours to reach the area. Click here for directions on how to travel to Hakone via bus or train.  If driving to Hakone it is an easy drive to the seaside city of Odawara from Tokyo before driving up a very curvy road up the mountain to Hakone.  Once in Hakone buses regularly run to the lower Mt. Kintoki trailhead.  However, for those who want to start at the upper Kintokimiharashi trailhead they will need to drive to Hakone since buses do not travel on that road.

Parking

For those that drive to Hakone for this hike, there is very limited parking at the lower trailhead.  We arrived early and could not find any parking so we drove to the upper trailhead at Kintokimiharashi.  This parking lot is very large and even on a busy weekend morning we had no issues finding parking.

Narrative

My family and I really love visiting the Hakone area.  Hakone is a very popular hot spring resort location for people that live in the Tokyo area.  Every time we come to Hakone we make sure to hike and explore a new area.  A hike we have been wanting to do before is to hike up Mt. Ashigara which is more popularly known as Mt. Kintoki.  The peak is considered one of Japan’s 100 most famous mountains and is popular in Japan for being the home of the folk hero Kintaro.

Kintaro is Japanese for “Golden Boy” and is depicted as being an extremely strong boy who walked around with an axe helping local woodcutters cut trees.  He is kind of like a Japanese version of Paul Bunyan.  Kintaro is also well known for making friends with the animals that lived in the Hakone area.  He is even once sumo wrestled with a bear for fun.  The legend of Kintaro is believed to be based on the real life person Sakata Kintoki who was a loyal retainer to Minamoto no Yorimitsu during the Heian period approximately 1,000 years ago.

Sakata Kintoki is what has given Mt. Ashigara its more popularly known name of Mt. Kintoki.  This mountain is the highest point of the crater wall of the Hakone volcano at 1,212 meters and very prominent.  From the Kintokimiharashi parking lot we found the trailhead for this hike just below it:

The trailhead has signs showing a map of the trails in the area and even a warning about bears.  I have seen signs warning of bears at other trails in Hakone and have yet to see one:

From this trailhead there is actually an option to hike to another great summit in the area, Mt. Myojingatake.  You can read about my prior hike up this mountain at the below link:

Hikes in Japan: Mt. Myojingatake Trail (明神ヶ岳)

From the trailhead the hike begins with a pleasant walk through a bamboo forest:

A short distance through the bamboo forest we noticed a small trail that appeared on our right.  There was no sign to mark this turn, but we had no problem spotting it:

After making the turn here we noticed a small locked wooden building and then a trail that begins the ascent up Mt. Kintoki.  Making this turn is critical because if this turn is missed the trail leads down the mountain not up it.  From this turn the trail becomes almost a continuous course of staircases that have to be ascended to reach the summit:

After the first section of staircases we came to a clearing where we already had a great view of the Hakone area.  In the center of the picture the still active caldera of the volcano can be seen pushing out gas and slowly rebuilding the volcano.  There is actually a cable car that goes right over the crater:

Here is a panorama picture of the view:

From the clearing we then continued the grind of ascending staircases to the summit:

Along the ascent to the summit my kids and I saw the only wildlife of our entire hike, a small lizard:

Near the summit we came to the intersection with the trail that begins at the lower trailhead:

The last part of the ascent to the summit of Mt. Kintoki is steep and rocky:

We next popped out of the trees and saw the summit sign that looked like a giant axe in honor of the Kintaro legend.  Normally the views in the distance behind the axe would feature Mt. Fuji, however the day we hiked the trail, it was completely clouded in:

Though the views of Mt. Fuji were clouded in, we still had a good view looking down into the Hakone volcano.  We could even see the Lake Ashi in the distance:

Here is a panorama picture of the view:

The summit also had a small Shinto shrine on it that some visitors would offer a short prayer at:

Like many other popular summits in Japan, Mt. Kintoki has a teahouse on its summit.  My kids and I stopped there and had lunch and popsicles.  The popsicles were a nice treat because it was extremely hot the day we hike the mountain:

The hike back down Mt. Kintoki was quick and easy since it was all down hill.  Since we were also facing the opposite direction when going down the mountain, we were able to better appreciate the sweeping views of the beautiful Hakone region right in front of us:

Conclusion

Mt. Kintoki is a short, but challenging hike.  From the upper trailhead it is a steep one mile ascent with over a 1,000 feet (330 m) of elevation gain to the summit.  My nine and twelve year old kids made it to the summit, but the steepness of the hike and the heat definitely made it a challenge for them.  The views from the summit are really good and even better if Mt. Fuji is visible.  The legend of Kintaro gives this hike a fun cultural element to it as well.  I highly recommend this hike to anyone visiting the Hakone area.