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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Kanagawa
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From the center, Mt. Kanmuri resembles a bear lying down—so locals call it “Hakone’s Bear.” Formed in the volcano’s last major activity about 3,000 years ago, its “coat” turns autumn-red and winter-white.
In February’s cold, Japanese brown frogs laid eggs at the nearby Wild Bird Forest pond. A ranger’s 2020 diary later records their tadpoles eating the egg strings of breeding Japanese toads.
The center’s 3-km birding walkway is wheelchair-accessible, and more than 110 bird species have been identified along it—a remarkable roll call for a route that starts right here.
Nearby Wild Bird Forest was made welcoming to birds with fruit-bearing trees, including dogwood, planted as food. The 2.3-hectare woodland has a 550-m observation loop and a birdwatching hut.
Near the center, mamezakura cherry flowers hang downward, one bloom at a time. A park ranger noted that looking up beneath the branches makes each small flower seem to face you.
The nature bulletin for the center’s surrounding Kojiri Parkland highlights Koyashio (Goyō-tsutsuji), a shrub that grows wild in Hakone only on Mt. Kintoki.
The center’s nature bulletin shares observations collected day by day by park volunteers. Flowering times vary with elevation around Hakone, so nature’s calendar can differ from one slope to another.
In the center’s four-seasons exhibit, a tablet makes animals appear to move inside the illustrated landscape. Drawers below hold seasonal things to look for outdoors.
Hakone Visitor Center opened in 1966, five years before Japan’s Environment Agency was established. The building was rebuilt in 1996, and its exhibits were comprehensively renewed in 2008.
