BINGO Theme: Local Bus Trip In Hakone - Part 1

Two teams embark on a “bingo” race in Hakone this week. They will try to get as many squares as possible by visiting tourist attractions and trying speciality foods. They will do so by using clues written in each square on the bingo card to find the spots and completing missions related to them in order to mark that square. The teams can also use the “special card” once on the second day to take a square away from the opponent team. Each team will also be informed once the other team has marked a square.

The bingo journey begins in Hakone-Yumoto and besides this area, the missions will also take place in Owakudani, Gora, Ashinoko and other famous places in Hakone. The bingo card indicates the locations of the missions. 

Team Tagawa decides to mark the squares around Yumoto. They head to the information centre to ask about two clues for this area - “TUBE Maeda manipulating cars” and “edible Hakone lava”. They are told there is a rickshaw man who looks like TUBE Maeda and the edible lava can be found at a kaarage shop called Koko Hakone. They decide to go to the rickshaw spot, which is near the information centre first. They find Mr Ogawa, a rickshaw man who is famous for his resemblance to TUBE Maeda. Their mission is to take the rickshaw and visit a place not listed in guidebooks. Mr Ogawa shows them a hidden path along a clear stream which offers a nice view. After the mission is completed, Team Tagawa marks their first square on the bingo card.

Team Takashima, meanwhile, first heads to the Ashinoko area, which has several squares on the bingo card. They take an Ashinoko-bound bus from Hakone-Yumoto at 9.15am. They alight at Miyanoshita, where their clue is to “find the mystery onsen bread that expires in 30 minutes”. The staff at a gas station tells them it can be found at Watanabe Bakery, which was established in 1891. The mission is to finish the bakery’s onsen stew bread. A crunchy baguette is used as a bowl and steaming hot beef stew is poured inside. The team must finish it in 30 minutes before the stew soaks into the bread. After completing the mission, they mark their first square. They then take a bus at 10.15am and alight at Ashinoyu, where the clue is “a museum with too many details”. After making enquiries, they are told it refers to the Doll House Museum Hakone, which has miniature houses. Miniature arts and crafts made at one-twelfth the size of the real object, collected from all over the world, are displayed at the museum. The team must locate the “three wise monkeys of Hakone” here. 

Team Tagawa goes to the karaage shop to try the edible lava. The mission is to guess what is used to make the kaarage black and they correct say squid ink. The team then places a marker on the edible lava square. 

Team Takashima sees that the other team has marked two squares in Yumoto. After finding the miniature monkeys, Team Takashima has also marked two squares, one of which is a corner one on the bingo card. They then enquire about the next clue - “a shrine in the sky where your wishes come true”. They are told they must take the ropeway from Hakone-en to the top and look for Komagatake. They also ask about another clue regarding “mysterious puzzle boxes in Ashinoko". Someone tells them these can be found at Karakuri Museum in the neighbouring Hakone Town, where a checking station used to be. They head there first by bus and alight at the Sekishomae Iriguchi bus stop. They reach the museum and the mission is to find a pass placed in one of the six mysterious puzzle boxes and pass the checking station in Hakone. In the old days, when people had to pass through a checking station, they used puzzle boxes to keep their valuables safe from thieves. One needs to push and pull the surface of the box, and some of the boxes open in the most unexpected ways. Team Takashima successfully completes the mission and marks another square. 

Team Tagawa takes the bus to the Picasso house at the Hakone Open-Air Museum. They aim to take the next bus at 12.50pm, half an hour later, so aim to complete the mission by then. The Hakone Open-Air Museum was established almost 50 years ago as Japan's first open-air museum. They check out the Picasso exhibition at the museum and their mission is to memorise Picasso’s full name - Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Crispín Crispiniano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. They succeed on their sixth try and end up missing the 12.50pm bus. The next bus is after half an hour.

Team Takashima next heads to the “shrine in the sky” to mark their third corner. They must first go to Hakone-en, 30 minutes away, via a sightseeing boat. They enjoy the magnificent view of Lake Ashi from the boat. 

Team Tagawa checks out the other clues, one of which is “stir-fried liver and garlic chives that Mister loved”. They are told there is a restaurant called Taigen which is famous for this dish. They then take the 1.20pm bus towards Sengokubara. On the way, they make a stopover at Sengoku to pursue another clue at the Little Prince Museum, inspired by the popular novel. The mission here is to find the Little Prince and his sheep in the same pose as a signboard at the museum. Team Tagawa manages to find them and completes the mission. 

In the meantime, Team Takashima arrives at Hakone-en. They then take the ropeway to the “shrine in the sky”. The team reaches the summit of Komagatake and wants to take on the mission, which is to pray at the shrine through an open door. However, they are told the door only opens on certain days of the month and they will have to return the following day to complete the mission. They decide to pursue another clue about “a parrot that says ‘bye bye’”. It can be found at the petting zoo inside Hakone-en, near the boat deck.

Team Tagawa next tackles the clue about "500 men", which they correctly guess refers to the 500 Jizo statues called Gohyakurakan found at Choanji Temple. They arrive at the temple with a history of more than 650 years at 2.35pm. Scattered throughout the temple grounds are stone statues of Buddha's 500 disciples showing various expressions including joy, anger, sadness and pleasure. For their mission, they must find a particular stone statue in a specific pose. They manage to locate it and can mark another square on the bingo card. The team now heads to Taigen to try the stir-fried liver and garlic chives loved by “Mister”. 

Team Takashima checks out the parrot at the petting zoo called Animal Land. They find Ruri the parrot and manages to get it to say “bye bye”. The mission is complete and they too claim another square.

Team Tagawa reaches Taigen and orders the dish made with fresh top-brand chicken liver from Shizuoka. They mark their sixth square after completing the mission. On the other hand, Team Takashima has captured four squares.

Team Takashima now aims to tackle a clue about “an edible Dragon Ball”. After asking around, they find out that it can be found at Motohakone. They need to take a ferry there but it only leaves at 4.15pm. So they opt to walk 2.5km to Motohakone. On the way, they pass by Hakone Shrine, one of the most famous landmarks in the Ashinoko area. They decide to make a quick stopover to tackle the clue relating to a “one-of-a-kind amulet”. They successfully find a two-in-one friendship amulet made with wooden mosaic work techniques. Their mission here is complete and they then continue walking to Motohakone to look for the special Dragon Ball. 

Tips:

1)    Try the unique onsen stew bread at Watanabe Bakery in Miyanoshita 
2)    Check out the 500 Jizo statues called Gohyakurakan at Choanji Temple