Hakone Luxury Exclusive Tour – Full Day with Chauffeured Vehicle

Yoshie and Masa were wonderful, thoughtful and kind guides to the very special parts of Hakone. Because we had visited before we asked if there were places to visit that were a little different from the traditional tour stops. They both took the time to ask us exactly what we were looking for, made detailed recommendations for us and were flawless in executing a well planned yet relaxing tour. We began with midnight fireworks over Lake Ashi on New Year’s Eve. It was difficult to find a tour company that was willing to work on the New Year but they were willing and gracious in accompanying us through the entire holiday. Yoshie and Masa were particularly great at navigating the holiday traffic so we never had to wait. On New Year’s Day they picked us up early at our hotel with another guide Toshi. We visited a traditional Japanese marquetry or wood mosaic craft store, where we purchased really exquisite wooden sake cups, then a 300 year old shop with amazake and grilled mochi next to a hearth fire. This was followed by great views of Mount Fuji with snow, the Fuji-view swing, and a traditional tenzaru soba lunch. What is an added benefit is that both Yoshie and Masa are photographers and will take all the pictures you want as well as candids of your family, all of which they will send to you. Masa even shared kurotamago with all of us so we could try the famous Hakone black eggs. Next was a unique mountain side pastry shop from a Michelin star chef and ice cream outdoors with another beautiful view. We then toured Odawara Castle, and finished with probably one of the most special moments we have had in all of our travels - a visit to Saijo-Ji Temple for Hatsumode, the first temple of the New Year. It was a perfect day with three special guides leading the way and we look forward to contacting them the next time we are in Hakone.