A serene lakeside shrine with a storied past

Hakone-jinja Shrine is a tranquil place of worship with a history stretching back more than 12 centuries. Its buildings have been destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times, yet the shrine and surrounding forest retain an atmosphere of both peace and mystery.

A water-lapped red torii gate in Lake Ashinoko, frequently seen in photos of Mount Fuji, is perhaps the shrine’s most famous feature. A series of similar red arches form a path into a forest of Japanese cedar trees, some over 800 years old. Follow this path to reach the shrine’s many buildings.

Keep an eye out for the dragon motif that appears throughout the shrine’s environs, inspired by a dragon once said to live in Lake Ashinoko. After the dragon began troubling the local populace, a priest tamed and then enshrined the beast within the grounds as a force for good.