The wetland garden covers an area of thirty thousand square meters. It was created about thirty-five years ago both to conserve the local wetland and as a tourist attraction.

It is the earliest place in Japan where you can enjoy viewing the yearly skunk cabbage blossoms. The skunk cabbages are flowering plants with curiously shaped white bracts that cup the rod-shaped spadix in the middle with its tiny yellow flowers.

Kumiko Yuyama, the guide :
“Unlike a park, where the flowers are planted in rows, these flowers are planted in as close to a natural arrangement as possible, just the way you would see them wild in the mountains.”

The Ashinoko lake is twenty kilometers around and has art galleries, hotels and other recreational facilities around its shores.

The fishing season at Ashinoko starts on March the first each year.

Fisherman :
“I come here every week in March and April. It is the very best place. I’ve caught about seven fish.”

This restored checkpoint near Lake Ashinoko was originally built in the 17th Century, during the Edo Period. It lay on a main highway that linked the political center of Edo, the city what is now Tokyo, and other regions.

You can try kimonos of the Edo Period.

Christian :
“ It’s quite tight around my waist, but I have full freedom of movement for my arms.”

To protect Edo, traffic of humans and goods was strictly controlled.

The event gives visitors an opportunity to experience the Japanese traditional performing arts casually. The visitors can watch geishas’ performances and even try them themselves.

Christian tries the drum.

Christian :
“The beat was fairly easy to follow .”

A geisha is a person who performs traditional music and dances.

Hakone received a gift of brown trout from its Canadian twin town of Jasper in Alberta back in 1972.

Deep fried smelt and brown trout cooked tempura style in batter.

Christian :
“Tasty, light, it’s delicious. It’s my first time that I’m trying brown trout. It’s really delightful!”