What to eat in Hakone: the one thing I can actually confirm

The black eggs at Owakudani, boiled in the geothermal springs, are the local speciality. That is the single food fact on this site that stands on a source we checked. This page is short on purpose. We did not verify a restaurant, a dish, a price or an opening time anywhere in Hakone, so there are none here, and I would rather hand you one confirmed thing than ten invented ones.

Owakudani and the black eggs

Owakudani is a live geothermal valley of sulphur vents, sitting under the middle of the ropeway between Sounzan and Togendai. The eggs are boiled in the springs there and they are what the place is known for. You reach it by ropeway, which means the eggs are subject to the same timetable as everything else: the last run is 16:45, or 16:15 in December and January, and Owakudani station itself stays open to 17:00 in the February to November timetable. High wind suspends the ropeway altogether. Fares and hours are on the ropeway page, and live status is at hakonenavi.jp.

Lunch, if you are on a coach tour

This much is in the operators’ own inclusion lists, so I will pass it on. The most-booked ropeway day tour excludes lunch. The best-rated Fuji and Hakone tour does not include meals. The cable-car-and-cruise tour and the Shinkansen-return tour include lunch only if you select that option when booking. The all-inclusive bullet-train tour includes a buffet lunch if selected. On several of these, cash is worth carrying — one reviewer was “little annoyed cash was needed” and lost time finding an ATM.

Why this page is thin

Every price on this site came off an operator’s own published fare table. There is no equivalent for a bowl of noodles at a station, and a page listing plausible-sounding restaurants with plausible-sounding prices would be worth less than nothing to you when one of them has closed. So: eat the eggs at Owakudani, and choose the rest when you are standing there. What is genuinely verifiable about the stops is on things to do in Hakone.

Check dates & availability

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure on most tours — book now, decide later.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hakone famous for eating?

The black eggs boiled in the geothermal springs at Owakudani, which sits under the middle of the ropeway between Sounzan and Togendai. That is the local speciality and it is the one food fact we were able to confirm from a source, which is why this page does not list anything else.

Is lunch included on a Hakone day tour?

It depends on the product and it is worth checking before you book. The most-booked ropeway tour excludes lunch and the best-rated Fuji and Hakone tour does not include meals; the cable-car-and-cruise, Shinkansen-return and all-inclusive bullet-train tours include lunch only when you select that option. Inclusions for all eight are on the tours page.

Where should I eat in Hakone?

I am not going to name somewhere I have not verified is still open and still charging what a blog said in 2023. We checked transport operators’ own fare tables for this site and there is no equivalent published source for restaurants, so this page stops at the black eggs on purpose.