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Myths and Legends of Hakone
Kintaro
Probably one of Japan’s most famous legends is that of Kintaro: the boy with superhuman strength. He was raised on Mount Kintoki with one of the finest views of Mount Fuji in Japan. The son of a disgraced family of elite samurai, Kintaro’s mother ran away to raise her son safely in the mountains far away from the capital. He befriended the animals, rode on top of a bear and practiced sumo wrestling with all of the animals of the forest who became his best friends.
One day a woodcutter saw him ripping up trees with his bare hands. The woodcutter went to see Kintaro’s mother. For he was no real woodcutter, he was a scout from the Minamoto Clan sent to find strong warriors to command his armies. Kintaro was taken to Kyoto to study and did indeed become one of the greatest warriors in Japan.
He even went on to slay the terrible demon Shuten Doji. After decapitating the beast, the severed head of the demon made one last attack. Biting Kintaro’s head would have surely killed him if it weren’t for Kintaro wearing several helmets stacked on top of each other. There is no such thing as being too prepared.
The Giant Serpent of Ohiradai & Ninotaira
A giant serpent once lived in the mountainous forests of Hakone. Locals mysteriously disappeared one by one killed off by the snake. The townsfolk hatched a plan and attacked the serpent with bow and arrow. Before its painful death, the serpent writhed in pain and smashed its body against the ground in agony. The two flat plateaus of Ohiradai and Ninotaira are said to have been created in this attack. The are over 2km apart. My that was some snake!
The Yaobikuni
The Yaobikuni is a legendary character from all over Japan. She was a wondering mountain nun who lived to over 800 years old. There is a grave to her in Hakone by Shojin Pond. This is how her story goes:
Once a fisherman and his friends were having a drunken party. They had been fishing that day and one of the fish they had caught had a strangely human face. They dared not eat it and hid it away to be thrown away the very next day. But the fisherman’s daughter woke in the night feeling hungry. She searched the kitchen and in found a fish. In the darkness she didn’t see that it had a human face. And at first glance, nothing happened. She grew up into a beautiful woman, married and had children. But as her husband aged, she stayed the same. He died as eventually did her children. But still she stayed the same. Several husbands and children later the woman grew tired of constant loss. She became a wondering nun, known as a Bukini. She lived to 800 years old when she died still youthful and still beautiful.
The moral of the story could be that in Japan if you want to live forever, feast on the flesh of a mermaid. But be careful what you wish for.
The Kuzuryu - 9 Headed Dragon
The Kuzuryu is a 9 headed dragon that once terrorized the people living around the lake. Locals were so scared that they would sacrifice children to be eaten by the ferocious Kuzuryu.
One day a buddhist monk called Mangan Shonin arrived in the town. The locals begged him to slay the dragon. Mangan Shonin built a shrine and prayed to the dragon. Placated by the strength of the prayer, Mangan then chained the Kuzuryu to rocks at the bottom on the lake. Nowadays the dragon is known as a great protector of the locals who worship him in return.
One July 31st each year, boxes of red rice are sunk to the bottom of the lake to feed and honor the Kuzuryu. Not once has a box returned to the surface, surely proving the existence and appetite of the beast.
Hakone-Yumoto Healing Hot Springs
The town of Hakone-Yumoto’s origins come a monk in training called Jojobo. In the 700’s smallpox was devastating vast swaths of the population. One day a magical hot spring emerged from the ground. Everyone who bathed in the water were was miraculously healed. That spring became so popular that a town grew out of it’s popularity. That town is now known as Hakone Yumoto. It is the transport hub and gateway town to the rest of the area. You can still bathe in the legendary healing waters today. Located near the Yumoto Kumano Shrine, the Ryokan Inns and baths are supposed to still carry mystical healing powers.