Hakone, Japan

Yunessun Onsen + Hakone Shrine + Vlog

February 4, 2019

Posted In: Fuji + Hakone | Hakone | Japan | Travel

After our clear morning back at the Chureito Pagoda we continued onto Hakone for 2 amazing things, the Yunessun Onsen and the Hakone Shrine. You’ve probably seen videos of this onsen on social media because of their unique hot spring baths. These include baths with wine, green tea, coffee, sake, and more! Unlike a traditional Japanese onsen where you bathe naked, and of course men and women are separated. The Hakone Kowakien Yunessun is sort of a large hot spring theme park where people wear bathing suits, they do have a traditional onsen area, but because of our tattoos we weren’t able to go.

Technically we were not supposed to be able to go at all, but the trick is to wear a rash guard or a long sleeve top. Japanese people already wear this sort of clothing to the beach/pool over swimsuits, since they’re big on sun safety. There will be signs that say that tattoos are not allowed.. but if they can’t be seen what can they tell you? Nothing! We also changed into our long sleeve shirts in the bathrooms before entering the onsen, not in the locker room. I had to buy a shirt and shorts before we left for the road trip… because somehow I forgot to pack my bathing suit!

I didn’t take many photos… but I did grab a lot of videos on my GoPro. Be sure you scroll all the way down to see the video I put together!

^^ had to do a pit stop at a rest stop just to capture this view!! The clouds had already started rolling in ^^

^^ sake bath above and green tea bath below ^^

^^ this was the seasonal bath at the time which was orange themed ^^

^^ the outdoor baths were amazing and where we noticed it had slowly started snowing ^^

We spent so much time relaxing and going from bath to bath, but I kind of wish we had left a little earlier. Thankfully we were still able to make a short pit stop at the famous Hakone Shrine Torii just as the sun was going down, but I wish we had more time to visit the shrine itself. It also started snowing as we were driving to the shrine and we couldn’t believe it!! It meant that Lake Ashi was incredibly foggy/moody when we arrived, which I loved! Scroll all the way down to see the video I created about this trip.

Hakone Kowakien Yunessun

1297 Ninotaira, Hakone, Ashigarashimo District,
Kanagawa Prefecture 250-0407, Japan
Hours: 9AM-7PM
Price: ¥2,900 Adults | ¥1,600 Children
English Website