The Fujiya Hotel — 147 Years of Hakone Legend
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to stay at a hotel that has been welcoming guests since Japan first opened its doors to the world? The Fujiya Hotel is that place. Founded in 1878 at Miyanoshita in Hakone by industrialist Sennosuke Yamaguchi, it has hosted Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1893), Albert Einstein (1922), Chiang Kai-shek (1927), Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, and — most famously — John Lennon, Yoko Ono and their son Sean in 1978, who sat at a café table still there today eating apple pie. A score of 9.2/10 from 2,102 verified guest reviews, four landmark buildings registered as national cultural properties, onsen, an indoor pool, and a French dining room painted with 636 murals. Rates from approx. ¥25,000/night. Honestly — this is not just a hotel. It is a living museum you can sleep inside.
Picture 1893: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is signing the guest book here. Fast-forward to 1922 and Albert Einstein takes the same road up to Miyanoshita. In 1978, John Lennon and Yoko Ono check in with their son Sean and order apple pie at a café table you can sit at today. The Fujiya Hotel is not trading on nostalgia as a marketing device — it is a place where the history is literally embedded in the carved wooden railings, the brass room keys for the Chrysanthemum suite, the revolving door that survived a major 2018-2020 seismic renovation without losing a single panel. When guests describe it as a 'living museum,' they are not being hyperbolic. They are being accurate.
One guest recalls: "Walking into the Main Dining Room felt like stepping into a 1930s film set — the ceiling paintings, the height of the room, the classical music — they completely forgot to look at the menu for the first few minutes. The onsen with the Hakone mountain view is something they still think about months later."
The hotel comprises four buildings that each tell a different chapter of the story. The Main (1891) is the architectural centrepiece — 12 heritage rooms with carved wooden ceilings, wide verandas, and the kind of proportions that remind you Japan was building for a very specific kind of international guest. Comfy Lodge & Restful Cottage (1906) are two-storey wooden structures with original pink walls revealed during the 2020 restoration. Flower Palace (1936) names every room after a flower — down to the door handles and the key itself — and houses the Heritage Room Chrysanthemum (69 m²), where both John Lennon and novelist Yukio Mishima stayed, priced at approx. ¥180,000/night for two. Forest Wing (1960) is the newest and was fully renovated in 2020, with a private onsen and guest lounge added. All three older buildings are registered national tangible cultural properties; all four were refreshed as part of the two-year restoration.
The facility that guests mention most consistently — and most enthusiastically — is the Main Dining Room. French cuisine served under a ceiling painted with 636 restored botanical murals, in a room with proportions and acoustics that no modern hotel could replicate with a renovation budget. The hotel's apple pie, served in the adjoining café, has been on the menu long enough that John Lennon is documented to have eaten it at this address. The Forest Wing onsen looks directly out at the Hakone volcanic caldera — a view that reviewers describe as the reason they booked a second night. There is also an indoor pool, a spa, a newly opened fitness centre (March 2026), and a hotel museum walking you through 147 years of recorded history. The property spans over 25,000 square metres.
The 2018-2020 renovation — the largest since the hotel's construction — was an exercise in balancing preservation with practicality. The iconic wooden revolving door at the entrance was retained. Pillars were reinforced, seismic systems were installed invisibly behind the original walls, and every guest room across all four wings was renewed. Booking.com's 2,102 reviewers scored cleanliness at 9.6 and comfort at 9.6, which for a 147-year-old building is a remarkable achievement. Base rates start at approx. ¥25,000/night for Forest Wing rooms in the standard season, with heritage room categories in Flower Palace and The Main ranging considerably higher depending on date.
The address — 359 Miyanoshita, Hakone-machi — places you about 480 metres (roughly a 5-7 minute walk) from Miyanoshita Station on the Hakone Tozan Railway. From Odawara, the scenic mountain railway takes about 35-40 minutes. From Tokyo's Shinjuku, the Odakyu Romancecar brings you to Odawara in around 70 minutes, then the railway on to Miyanoshita. The surrounding Hakone circuit is well-served from this base: Hakone Open Air Museum is two stations along the same line; Lake Ashi and the Owakudani volcanic valley are accessible by bus and the Hakone Ropeway within 30-45 minutes.
A few things worth knowing before you book. The three heritage buildings have no lifts — this is a genuine accessibility consideration for guests with heavy luggage or mobility issues. The Forest Wing has lifts and is the practical choice for anyone who needs them. Dinner at the main restaurant requires advance reservations (especially Friday through Sunday and public holidays); some guests report not being told this at check-in, which led to disappointment. The Kikkiso Japanese restaurant has received some criticism for pricing versus quality relative to the hotel's premium position. And check-in has been described as businesslike rather than warm — not the gushing welcome some guests expect at these rates. That said, 9.2/10 from 2,102 people does not accumulate by accident.
The straight answer from guests who have been: The Fujiya Hotel is the right choice if you are travelling to Hakone for a reason — a honeymoon, an anniversary, a trip you have been planning for years, or simply a genuine desire to stay somewhere that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world. It is not the most efficient or cost-conscious hotel in Hakone. It is, by a wide margin, the most singular — and the most worth remembering.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Three nationally registered cultural property buildings — an architectural experience unlike any modern hotel
- ✓ Main Dining Room with 636 restored ceiling murals — genuinely one of the most beautiful dining rooms in Japan
- ✓ Forest Wing onsen with direct Hakone caldera view
- ✓ Post-2020 renovation: cleanliness and comfort scored 9.6/10 for a 147-year-old hotel
- ! Three heritage buildings have no lifts — not suitable for heavy luggage or mobility issues without planning ahead
- ! Dinner reservations required (especially weekends/holidays) — guests not always informed at check-in
- ! Value for money scored 8.4/10 — reflects premium pricing versus modern alternatives
- ✓ An experience that simply cannot be replicated — 147 years of documented history in every detail
- ✓ Japanese garden and hotel museum keep you exploring without leaving the property
- ✓ Japanese breakfast with local Hakone-region ingredients — well above average hotel quality
- ! Bathrooms in some heritage rooms are compact relative to the room rates
- ! Check-in can feel transactional rather than warm — a gap given the hotel's positioning
- ! Kikkiso restaurant criticised for pricing versus portion quality by multiple reviewers
- 💡If you have heavy luggage or mobility limitations — The Main, Comfy Lodge, and Flower Palace buildings have no lifts. This is a genuine constraint, not a minor quirk. Book the Forest Wing instead: it has lifts, was fully renovated in 2020, and still gives you full access to the dining room, onsen, pool and gardens. Flag this when booking.
- 💡If you plan to dine at the hotel in the evenings — reserve your table when you book your room, not on arrival. The main restaurant fills on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Arriving without a reservation often means no seat, and the surrounding area in Miyanoshita has limited alternatives for a formal dinner.
- 💡If value for money is your primary measure — the 8.4/10 value score is honest feedback. Rates start at approx. ¥25,000/night for Forest Wing and climb steeply for heritage rooms. What you receive is not square metres or marble bathrooms — it is an irreplaceable experience. If that trade-off does not appeal, Hakone has excellent modern ryokan and boutique hotels at lower price points.