Chiaroscuro (Japan, Hakone)

On this shore of Lake Ashi, the visible buildings belong to the former Hakone Seikanso, a secondary imperial residence now converted. Their architectural style is inspired by the shinden-zukuri , a U-shaped plan typical of aristocratic palaces of the Heian period (8th–12th centuries), structured around a central garden. To the rear, Mount Komagatake rises to 1,327 m. Accessible by cable car, it forms the southern rim of the caldera of the still active Hakone volcano : its fumaroles visible at Ōwakudani attest to permanent geothermal activity.

Since the Edo period, Hakone has been a major stopping point on the Tōkaidō Road , which connected Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo). The region is renowned for its onsen (hot springs), its open-air modern art museums, and its thousand-year-old Shinto shrine, the Hakone-jinja , whose red torii gates seem to emerge from the lake. Here, natural forces—fire, water, mist—nurture a sacred relationship with the land. Local beliefs regard the lake as a gateway to the spirit world, and the mountains as a place of purification.