Ashinoko Skyline (芦ノ湖スカイライン)

The Ashinoko Skyline is a 10.7 km toll road along the western rim of the Hakone volcano, at about 1,000 m, between Hakone Pass on National Route 1 and Kojiri at the north end of Lake Ashi. It has two parts: the main line from Hakone Pass to Kojiri Pass, and the short Kojiri line from Kojiri Pass down to the Kojiri water gate by the lake.

In MF Ghost, Shuichi Shigeno's sequel to Initial D, this is the heart of Ashinoko GT, round 2 of the fourth MFG season. The 25.3 km lap starts at the Hakone Pass tollbooth, runs the main line and the Kojiri line to the Kojiri tollbooth, follows Kanagawa Route 75 past Togendai to Oshiba junction, then takes National Route 1 back up to Hakone Pass, three laps in all.

Fujita Kanko built the road and opened the main line in 1962, and the Kojiri line followed in 1972. Ashinoko Skyline Co., part of the NIPPO road building group, runs it today. Under the road runs the Fukara canal tunnel, dug by hand in the 1660s to carry Lake Ashi water to Susono.

• From the Hakone Pass tollbooth the main line climbs north along the ridge, with Lake Ashi on one side and Suruga Bay on the other.
• Two rest houses sit near the south end. Lake View has a lookout over Lake Ashi and Mt Komagatake and is known for its highland soft serve and udon and soba. Fuji View looks over Suruga Bay, with sunsets and night views of the coast in some seasons, and its curry and katsu curry are the popular orders.
• The big Fuji View car park is where car, motorbike and radio controlled car fans gather, and meets are held there often.
• Shakushi Pass, about halfway, looks north to Mt Fuji, west to the Southern Alps and south to the Izu Peninsula. On autumn and winter evenings the lights of Susono and Numazu show below, and clear autumn mornings can bring a sea of cloud.
• Mikuni Pass has the whole of Mt Fuji in view, the widest outlook on the road. The name means three provinces, because Sagami, Suruga and Izu once met here.
• Grooves cut into the surface play music at 40 km/h. Northbound between Shakushi Pass and Mikuni Pass it is the children's song Fuji no Yama. Southbound from the rest houses to the Hakone Pass tollbooth it is A Cruel Angel's Thesis, the theme of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which is set in Hakone. The operator suggests windows up.
• The whole toll road is part of the Ashinoko GT lap in MF Ghost, from the start at the Hakone Pass tollbooth to the turn off at the Kojiri tollbooth. Michael Beckenbauer wins in his Porsche, and Kanata Katagiri's Toyota 86 finishes fourth. The volcanic ash section that makes the story's course so slippery is fiction.
• Best way to experience it: in your own car or a hire car, or on one of the guided driving tours that run on it.
• Bringing friends or family? On set days such as long holidays, helicopter flights of about 5 minutes leave the Ashinoko heliport beside Fuji View: ¥5,000 for adults and ¥3,000 for children aged 3 to 12, tickets sold on the spot from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM with no advance bookings.

• The toll is ¥1,000 for cars and kei cars on the main line, which includes the Kojiri line, or ¥200 for the Kojiri line alone. Motorbikes over 125 cc pay ¥500, or ¥200 for the Kojiri line alone.
• The main line toll is paid at the Hakone Pass tollbooth, and the Kojiri line toll at a booth midway along that line. Credit cards, e-money and QR payments are not accepted.
• There is no tollbooth at Kojiri Pass, so drivers joining there from the Hakone Skyline or Route 337 still pay. The Hakone Skyline from Kojiri Pass towards Gotemba is a separate toll road.
• The road opens 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Outside those hours the main line is closed and the Kojiri line is free.
• The operator closes or restricts the road for accidents, natural disasters and other reasons, and posts the day's road status and a morning weather report on its homepage.
• Motorbikes of 125 cc and under, mopeds, bicycles and pedestrians cannot use the road. The speed limit is 40 km/h.
• Vehicles longer than 12 m, wider than 2.5 m, higher than 3.8 m or heavier than 20 t are not allowed.
• U turns and stopping on the road are not allowed outside the car parks. Mikuni Pass, Shakushi Pass, the Mikoto no Izumi spring and both rest houses have free parking, and turning round in those car parks is allowed.
• Both rest houses open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
• Water from the Mikoto no Izumi spring has to be boiled before drinking.
• Helicopter flights stop in bad weather and take cash, cards, e-money and transit IC cards.
• The Hakone Pass end is on National Route 1 above Moto Hakone, and the Kojiri end is on the north shore of Lake Ashi near Togendai.

• Last verified: 3 November 2026
• Official link: http://www.ashinoko-skyline.co.jp/