Hakone has had a rough couple of years with various natural disasters or near disasters really hindering the transportation services in the area. I’ve made previous threads about the disruptions of travel mostly stemming from Typhoon Hagibis #19, volcanic activity, and replacement of the cable cars. Below is the final update as the entire circuit will be reopening in full. I included a backstory in case you forgot what was closed and why but everything should be good to go very soon!
As of posting this post Japan still has closed borders with most countries in the world but I know many of you are still stalking this subreddit and planning your future trips so hopefully this information will be useful to those planning their trips now or will find it in the future.
-The Hakone Ropeway is currently open and clear of volcanic activity alerts that lasted from May 2019 until November 2019. It was closed for a few months earlier on in the year due to COVID but they have since implemented safety measures and resumed operations. This may change in the future. Volcanic activity may occur in the future and the ropeway does go down periodically due to volcanic gasses (different than volcanic activity). You can treat these closures much like poor weather as they can go down and resume normal operations within the same day and this usually does not lead to extended closures. 🙂
-The Hakone Cablecar is currently open after replacing the older models with new ones. Before Typhoon Hagibis struck Japan in October 2019 the replacement of the cablecars had already been put on the schedule. After the typhoon hit there was minor damage that needed to be repaired so the cablecar was closed temporarily before resuming operations. Eventually the cablecar was closed from December 2019 until Spring 2020. The new cars are running ready for you to enjoy! I just wanted to clarify the extended downtime was not due to the Typhoon but for already scheduled improvements!
-The Hakone Tozan Train! When Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan in October 2019 huge landslides took out portions of the track. Service was able to be resumed from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto but from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora you had to take alternate buses to your destination. **Starting July 23, 2020 the entire line will be operational again from Odawara to Gora station. [Japanese PDF of the announcement](https://cops.ssl-odakyu.jp/www.hakone-tozan.co.jp/hakone_wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/8efd36756ee790977fb0fb4a0b643f14.pdf).**
With all of that this means that the Ropeway, Cablecar, and full train line will be operational all at once making the “golden loop/route” possible again which has not been possible for a very long time due to various occurrences. Hopefully they remain in operation until the borders re-open to a majority of ya’ll. Good luck!
5 comments
I think i went for the full loop just before it closed a few years ago. Did they upgrade the roads? I remember there was a stupidly massive traffic jam…although that was on a weekend.
I was there last year around July 20, unfortunately, cable car wasn’t operational, but everything else was 🙂
Great to see that it’s all coming together now.
I’m really glad it’s all up and running again. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit Hakone back in September, but even then the ropeway was closed due to the volcanic activity.
I was there at the end of November, and got to ride the cable car but we had horribly foggy weather and rain the entire weekend. (it was perfect for Onsen, not so much for anything else!) so I want to visit again when the restrictions are lifted.
This is great news! I was disappointed I couldn’t go to Hakone at all because of this back in December, but I look forward to going in the future