The meeting place is at the top of the stairs by the "Gokuraku Chaya"(about 80 meters go up a hill from the Information Center).

Please plan to arrive at least 5 minutes before the tour departs.

Please tell the guides the number on your ticket and pick up your helmet.

The volcanic activity in Owakudani Nature Trail is active and is usually closed to the general public. Volcanic activity and volcanic gas are constantly monitored, but unexpected situations may occur suddenly, so please follow the instructions of the guides and act as a group without leaving the line to protect your life.

The guide will sound a siren for demonstration. If you hear this sound, it means an emergency has occurred. Please follow the instructions of the guide and evacuate calmly to a shelter.

Owakudani Valley is designated as a special area of the National Park, so please refrain from collecting plants or taking stones home.

The small brown building at the top of the nature trail is the steaming pool for black eggs. Today we will go up there.

The shelter is a place for temporary evacuation from cinder rocks in case of a sudden eruption. There are seven cinder shelters on this nature trail, and the capacity of this shelter is 120 people.

The inside of the shelter is lined with aramid fiber, which is used in firefighter uniforms and bulletproof vests for its superior strength and durability. The shelters are designed to be impervious to flying cinder rocks up to 30 cm in diameter. Gas masks and water towels are always available in each shelter in case of emergency.

Shelter No. 2 has an observation deck at the top, and on a clear day, you can enjoy a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji.

Traces of the debris flow on the left, just below Mt. Kanmurigatake, caused by the heavy rains of Typhoon No. 21 in October 2002, can be seen in front of Shelter No. 3.

Typhoon No. 19 ripped through across   Japan in October 2019. In Hakone, the storm brought over 1,000 millimeters of rainfall totals, and on October 12, there was a record 922.5 millimeters of rainfall totals, the highest ever recorded in Japan. The overflowing Lake Ashi and Hayakawa River flooded buildings, and the soil and sand from mountains caused significant damage to buildings, roads and railways.

A mudslide happened on the nature trail, causing damage to the area behind the egg steaming pool and other nearby areas.

Owakudani had a small eruption in 2015. This caused temporary access restrictions in the area, and the gas emissions from the eruption killed most of the trees in the area.

Plumes of smoke rise from several locations, but most of the white smoke is water vapor. The unpleasant odor is caused by hydrogen sulfide. 

The picture shows a comparison between Owakudani Valley in the past and the same location captured in May 2021.

Hakone attracts around 20 million tourists from both Japan and abroad every year.

Hakone Onsen is the seventh largest hot spring in Japan, with 345 hot springs and pumping approximately 19,500 liters of hot spring water per minute.

Hakone Onsen has a long history and is said to have been founded in 738 during the Nara period (710-794). During the Edo period (1603-1867), it developed as the Seven Hot Springs of Hakone (Hakone Nana Yu), attracting many spa enthusiasts. After the war, hot springs development progressed in various parts of Hakone, and today they are known as the Hakone 17 Hot Springs (Hakone Ju-Nana Yu).

Owakudani Onsen consists of a blend of two types of hot spring water. The first type is produced by combining water with high-temperature steam that emanated from the underground, while the second type found in Owakudani is naturally flowing. This water is distributed to accommodations and other facilities in various areas.

Notes: There are no hot spring bathing facilities in Owakudani area.

"Black egg" is made by using a chemical reaction between geothermal heat and volcanic gas. If you boil the eggs in a hot spring pond at about 80 degrees centigrade for about 60 minutes, the iron content of the hot spring component will adhere to the porous eggshell. In the hot spring pond, a chemical reaction occurs and becomes a boiled egg with a black shell. Move the blackened eggs to a steaming kettle and steam them with steam at about 100 degrees centigrade for about 15 minutes. Finish it!

It is said that eating one "black egg" will live 7 years longer　that comes from lucky number such as the Seven Lucky Gods. It is also known that black eggs have about 20% higher "umami component” rich taste than boiled eggs made in hot water.

"Black eggs" are transported by cable (ropeway for transporting luggage). At the intersection of the nature trail and the cable line, a net fence is installed to prevent the eggs from falling.

Hakone Volcano has been formed by repeated eruptions for hundreds of thousands of years. From about 400,000 years ago to 230,000 years ago, sommas such as Mt. Kintoki and Mt. Myojingatake were formed. In addition, the ejecta of a large-scale pyroclastic flow that occurred about 65,000 years ago is called Tokyo Pumice and is deposited in a large area of the southern Kanto region.

An eruption about 3,000 years ago formed the landscape of Hakone today. The eruption caused the landslide on the part of Kamiyama.  (Hakone's highest mountain which altitude is 1,438m.) and the sediment dammed the Hayakawa River to form Lake Ashi, and the collapsed slope became Owakudani. After that, magma rose from underground and a lava dome was formed. This is Mt. Kanmurigatake.

Owakudani is filled with a special smell including the hydrogen sulfide now, and is completely different from others in Hakone that is full of green, is popular as a scenic spot where you can feel the power of nature up close.

In Owakudani, many plants and trees have died due to the influence of volcanic gases (mainly sulfur dioxide), but this Oshima cherry tree has not withered and blooms every year. It is said that the net fence to prevent the eggs from falling protects the cherry from volcanic gas.

There is something like moss on the rocks, which is a plant called "sulfur moss ", which belongs to lichens. It is said that the name sulfur moss came from the fact that it is distributed in large quantities in places with a high sulfur content, such as hot spring resorts and volcanic areas. If you look at this sulfur moss in close, it looks like the bright red lips of Marilyn Monroe, so it is also called "Monroe Lip".

The area around the volcanic field, known as the Solfatara Fields, is inhabited by plants that are resistant to the high temperatures of the soil and the acidity of the soil. Another characteristic of the Owakudani Valley is that the closer to the plume, the more acidic plants (Hydrangea paniculate, Pieris japonica, Reynoutria japonica, Miscanthus sinensis, Hakonechloa macra) can be seen.

Thank you for your participation. The guided tour concludes here. Please cooperate in answering the questionnaire from the QR code on the back of the ticket.

We recommend entering the Hakone Geo Museum (100 yen per person), where you can learn more about Hakone Volcano.

Finally, we will collect the helmets and you will be free to leave. Thank you very much for your cooperation in the group action.