May 12, 2013 - 1 min read

The Beauty of Hakone's Shojin Pond

What was once considered a hell spot is now pure heaven

By Larry Knipfing

Community writer

I wanted to stay here and look at this lake for hours

Grave of the Soga Brothers

One example of the statuary near the lake

An example of statuary built into the rock- almost 1000 years old

Museum at the end of the pond

This small temple is built right up against a cave in the rock, and houses ornaments and statues for worship

Statues near the temple bulding, across the street from the pond

A beautiful blend of autumn foliage

Another view of this beautiful pond-this is mainly reflection

There is a lot of pine in the area

Except for Owakudani, you probably won't have an image of Hakone as being wild and hellish. But hundreds of years ago, before the area was developed, it was considered to be quite hellish, particularly the Ashinoyu area. Nowadays, it's a nice place to take a hike, stay at a tradtional inn (Matsuzaka-ya), see some interesting statuary, and enjoy one of the most mirror-like pond surfaces I have ever seen - Shojin Ike Pond. The grave of the famous Soga Brothers (with their very own bus stop named after them) is half way between the inn and the pond.

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Larry Knipfing

By Larry Knipfing

Community writer

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Katie Jackson

Katie Jackson 9 years ago

True. I actually didn't know that. I will have to check it out next time I head out to Hakone.

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Victoria Vlisides

Victoria Vlisides 9 years ago

Reflections are so nice!

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Iain Stanley

Iain Stanley 10 years ago

Very interesting insights

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