Hakone Ropeway

Four stations make up the line: Sounzan at the top of the Hakone Tozan cable car, then Owakudani, Ubako and Togendai on Lake Ashi. Each section takes about 10 minutes. At Owakudani you change gondolas, since the Sounzan and Togendai lines leave from different platforms. Togendai is where the Hakone sightseeing cruise boats, the Odakyu highway buses and the Hakone Tozan buses meet.

Owakudani is an active crater on Hakoneyama, and the ropeway publishes its own gas readings on the operator's site. Read them along with the JMA bulletin for Hakoneyama before you set out. The operator says the gas readings and the volcanic alert level are separate measures, and either can change the day's plans.

Hakoneyama's alert plan, revised in March 2025, sets out what closes at each level. At Level 1 the authorities may restrict entry inside the expected crater zone as conditions require. Level 2 shuts the ground round the crater zone along with the Owakudani roads and the ropeway through it, though you can still reach Ubako and Sounzan stations. Level 3 bars entry up to about 600 metres from the crater zone. At Level 4 Hakone town orders an evacuation, because so many visitors would need moving and homes sit close to the crater zone.