As enthusiasts, we seek the perfect driving road, hopefully to deliver the ultimate motoring nirvana: a sense of freedom, rising, soaring and free-falling or rather, accelerating, decelerating, cornering, finding the apex and flooring it through the exit. Few things offer a similarly therapeutic experience.
There are many roads universally acknowledged as some of the finest stretches of beautifully curving ribbons of tarmac: the Furka Pass in Switzerland, the Stelvio Pass in Italy, the Transfăgărășan Highway in Romania, and The Tail of the Dragon in the United States. There are countless others waiting to be discovered, although I’m sure the locals would prefer to keep them that way.
At the risk of adding another reason to visit Japan to an already overplayed list, I’d humbly offer driving. In Japan, I discovered my new favorite stretch of road, with breathtaking views, lush greenery and a sense of tranquility that’s difficult to find elsewhere.
Technically, this isn’t just one road but a combination of three distinct stretches that come together to form one memorable driving experience: the Hakone Turnpike, Prefectural Route 75 and the Ashinoko-Hakone Skyline Drive.
Taken together, they offer roughly 37 kilometers of mountain driving, starting from Odawara and climbing into the mountains of Hakone before following the western ridge of the Hakone Caldera towards Nagao Pass.
The first section is the Hakone Turnpike, a roughly 14-kilometer toll road that climbs from Odawara towards Taikanzan, reaching elevations of around 1,000 meters. It’s a relatively wide, flowing road with long sweeping bends, elevation changes and occasional straights.
Unlike tighter mountain passes, it allows you to carry a little more momentum through its corners, provided conditions permit.
From Taikanzan, Prefectural Route 75 connects the Turnpike to Hakone Pass. This roughly nine-kilometer stretch offers a different character, winding through the mountain landscape before reaching the entrance to the Ashinoko Skyline.
The final section is arguably the highlight. The Ashinoko-Hakone Skyline Drive covers approximately 14 kilometers from Hakone Pass to Nagao Pass, following the western ridge of the caldera. Here, the road becomes more intimate, with a succession of sweeping bends, tighter corners and elevation changes.
There are several observation points along the way, including Lake View Rest House and the Mikuni Pass Observatory, the latter particularly popular for its unobstructed views of Mount Fuji on clear days.
It’s a modest drive, taking roughly 50-70 minutes for the Ashinoko-Hakone Skyline section alone, without stops. But that’s precisely part of its charm.
It’s the kind of road you want to drive repeatedly, not because you need to get somewhere, but simply because you enjoy being behind the wheel. And when you get tired, step out, take a quick break, enjoy the amazing scenery, and watch other interesting cars drive by.
I’ve driven the Hakone Turnpike and the Ashinoko Skyline before, but on our previous trip last March with the guys, I wanted to experience the complete route and reaffirm why it is arguably the best stretch of road I’ve ever driven.
Again, the usual suspects came along. Kyle of Fitment Engineering Japan was gracious enough to lend us his two Porsches, now sporting new wheels, seats and steering wheels. They are the 981 Porsche Boxster GTS and the 991.2 GT3. Both cars were also now sporting tight fixed bucket seats.
Kenji, our Japanese contributor, was there with me previously, and on this drive too. But this time, we had more people joining the party: Kevin Tamasiro and Luca Abad, completing our trio of Waseda Boys, plus Aldous, The Drive List’s serial café hunter and social media director. Kevin even brought along his Evo X to play with the Germans.
The major difference? We were driving right at the tail end of winter, just a few days before Sakura season began and the official transition to spring. Instead of the golden light that blessed us on our previous visit, everything was grey, cold and colorless.
Photos wouldn’t look nearly as nice, but the conditions presented a different kind of challenge.
From Ginza, we took our borrowed Nissan Serena minivan and drove to Fujiyoshida to meet Kyle at his home, where he had the two Porsches prepped and ready.
From there, we drove another hour towards Ashinoko, where we began our drive along the Skyline.
After the mandatory toilet break and photo opportunities near the tollgate, we proceeded to the Lake Ashi Viewing Deck, where we set up to take turns with the cars and, of course, shoot content.
I let the guys drive first, knowing it would be a completely new experience for them.
And I was right. Seeing Aldous, Luca and even Kevin’s faces light up as they drove the Boxster with its top down along with the GT3, listening to the sonorous flat-six wail, augmented by the Gwapotech exhaust system, was incredibly fulfilling. I had finally been able to share the magic I’d experienced on my previous drive.
Photos taken, we continued towards Hakone Pass before heading down towards Odawara via the famous Hakone Turnpike. This connecting stretch of road offered another taste of Hakone’s mountain scenery, although there were unfortunately few safe places to stop for photographs.
We stopped at the Mount Taikan Observatory for a quick lunch (ramen, to help keep us warm), admire the other cars present then continued exploring the area. There are always interesting cars to see along this famous route.
Along the way, we found a rest stop made famous by old Best Motoring videos, where DK himself, Keiichi Tsuchiya, would test and evaluate performance cars alongside Japanese motoring icons like Motoharu Kurosawa, better known as Gan-san.
From the rest area, we head down to the famous Hakone Turnpike Toll Plaza in Odawara. If the Ashinoko Skyline is about sweeping mountain scenery and intimate corners, the Turnpike offers a different kind of driving pleasure.
It’s wider, less winding and more flowing, with long curves that make it particularly enjoyable behind the wheel. It’s also arguably more picturesque. If there were ever a road made for Instagram while driving, this would be it!
During Sakura season, Hakone is lined with cherry trees, as I saw firsthand with my wife and Kenji a year ago but in the bleak of winter, they hadn’t quite revealed themselves yet.
Finally, after our last photo stops and a few refreshments, we realized we still had to drive all the way back to Kyle’s place in Fujiyoshida.
Of course, nobody complained. And it was on the drive back, freed from the need to stop for photographs and videos, that we all truly enjoyed being behind the wheel.
It is truly, in every sense of the word, a special stage for driving.
We’ll be back very soon (next week!) and try to find another exciting piece of road. With different cars this time. Stay tuned!
