Day 1 of the First Shogun’s Path of Worship Tour - Hakone

After meeting up with all of the participants and being introduced to our guide, Tony Everitt, director of Hike Hakone Hachiri at the Odawara Station, we traveled by car to the Hakone Amasake Chaya. This famous tea house was established in the Early Edo era (16th century) and is now run by Mr. Yamamoto, the thirteen generation to do so. 

We enjoyed amasake, a sweet non-alcoholic beverage and chikara-mochi.

Mr. Yamamoto sat down and talked with us for a few minutes about the history of the tea house. Back in the Edo Era, when people had to travel to Edo (now Tokyo) there were four tea houses for the weary travelers to stop. They had to pass through checkpoints on the Tokaido Road to make sure they weren’t carrying weapons to Edo, or taking women out of Edo. Amazingly, Mr. Yamato’s ancestors kept the tea house running after the Edo era, even when there might be only one or two travelers a week. Now this is a famous place for tourists to stop for refreshments.

Isn’t this thatched roof great?

Next, we briefly visited a small free museum, then began walking the Old Tokaido Road. 

This is our knowledgeable guide Tony, originally from New Zealand, who explained everything and tried to keep us on schedule. We were so fortunate!

Tony explained about the small stone signs, which described the hill.

This fish stone had a song carved into it and Tony sang it for us.

Next, we were out of the woods and on to Hakone Shrine.

The Hakone Shrine, founded in 757 CE, enshrines multiple Shinto deities:Ninigi-no-Mikoto, grandson of Amaterasu and the god of prosperity, Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of Mount Fuji and Hoori-no-Mikoto, a many-storied deity.  They are collectively known as the Hakone Ōkami.  The shrine is believed to bring good luck, ward off misfortune, fulfill wishes, provide protection for victories, ensure safe travel, and assist with matchmaking.
Minamoto no Yoritomo took refuge here after losing his first battle of the Gempei War at Ishibashiyama.  His prayers for success were answered and he continued to worship at Hakone Shrine the rest of his life.

I did not take pictures inside the shrine, where we had a special ceremony and prayer with the Shrine Priest. 

We also visited the Shrine Museum and saw some treasures.

The oldest trees in Japan seem to be at shrines, where they are protected and taken care of.  

We ate lunch outside by the lake with a view of Mt. Fuji. The lunch was typical food of the era.

After lunch, we traveled by regular bus to the Yamanaka Castle Ruins. I had visited this place before on my own, but didn’t know much about it then.  Our guide, Tony, and one of the trip participants, who is an expert on Izu and Minamoto Yoritomo, made it much more interesting.

In 1590 a major battle was fought here during the Toyotomi Hideyoshi campaign to conquer the Go Hojo Clan and take control of the Kanto Region.  67,000 Hideyoshi troops defeated 4,000 Go Hojo defenders.  A few months later the Go Hojo Odawara Castle surrendered and Tokugawa Ieyasu was put in charge of Izu and the Kanto provinces.  
410 years earlier Minamoto Yoritomo lost his first battle against the Taira clan close to Odawara.  He later returned to set up his headquarters near his father’s earlier residence in Kamakura.

We entered the castle ruins grounds from the shrine entrance.

This waffle looking area was for defense, making it more difficult, but not impossible for the enemy to advance.

We traveled by taxi to the Fujisan Mishima Tokyu Hotel, near the station in Mishima. I will do one post later for hotels and meals. 

It was a great first day!