Hakone Turnpike (箱根ターンパイク)

The Hakone Turnpike is a private toll road that climbs from Odawara to the Daikanzan observation deck on the ridge above Lake Ashi, with a link road on to the Yugawara pass. It opened in 1965 and is run by Hakone Turnpike Limited, and its current sponsored name is the Anest Iwata Turnpike Hakone. Japanese carmakers use it for development driving and to show new models to the press, which is why it is often called Japan's Nürburgring.

In Initial D it is the Fifth Stage setting for Rin Hojo's impromptu run against Ryuji Ikeda, then Ryosuke Takahashi's downhill battle in his RX-7 FC against Rin's Skyline GT-R R32, which finishes at the Odawara toll gate. The series was drawn when the road was the Toyo Tires Turnpike, so that branding shows on the course. The arcade games call it Hakone, starting with Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity.

In MF Ghost, Shuichi Shigeno's sequel to Initial D, the Turnpike opens the season. Odawara Pikes Peak, round 1 of the fourth MFG season, is a 40.8 km lap run twice: up the Turnpike from the Odawara toll gate to Daikanzan, along Kanagawa Route 75 to Lake Ashi, then down National Route 1 through Hakone to the finish in Odawara. The anime opens with it in its first episode. A short version is the Odawara course in Initial D Arcade Stage Zero and Initial D The Arcade.

• The Hakone Odawara main line climbs from the Odawara toll gate to Daikanzan, and the shorter Hakone Izu link road carries on past Daikanzan to the Yugawara pass.
• Cherry trees line the lower climb between the 2 km and 7 km markers, the Cherry Blossom Tunnel, which the operator celebrates with a festival each spring.
• Daikanzan looks over Mount Fuji and Lake Ashi on one side, and Hatsushima, Oshima and the Miura and Boso peninsulas on the other.
• On weekends the Daikanzan car park fills with car and motorbike fans, and the operator hosts organised club meets there.
• The Sky Lounge at Daikanzan has a food court and souvenir shop downstairs, and a tea lounge upstairs with car books and magazines, free Wi-Fi and a street piano.
• The tea lounge sells Japan Tohge Project road stickers for the Turnpike, including one sold only on days when cloud hides Mount Fuji.
• In MF Ghost, Michael Beckenbauer wins Odawara Pikes Peak in his Porsche and Kanata Katagiri's Toyota 86 finishes ninth. The course comes down Route 1 past the Kochimatsuri junction and runs along Ichiyajo shita dori to the finish at the Hayakawa 3 chome junction, near the Odawara Atsugi Road entrance. Odawara City has five MF Ghost manhole covers around Odawara Station, among them on the pavement in front of Minaka Odawara and at the entrance to the Higashidori shopping street, and an earlier cover is on show at the Sannomaru shop by Odawara Castle.
• Best way to experience it: driving it yourself in your own car or a hire car, or on one of the guided driving tours that run on the Turnpike.
• Bringing friends or family? Passengers get the same view from the deck, the two seat Hakone swing, a dog run at ¥100 a visit and the tea lounge's ¥600 drink bar, free for preschool children.

• The toll is charged on every one way trip: ¥900 for cars and kei cars and ¥650 for motorbikes over 125 cc on the Hakone Odawara main line, and ¥200 and ¥170 on the Hakone Izu link road. U turns are not allowed.
• The toll is paid at the toll gate. It is best to take cash, as card payment at the gates has not been confirmed. ETC cards are not accepted.
• Books of 11 tickets for the price of 10 are sold at the road office by the Odawara toll gate and in the Sky Lounge tea lounge, which also sells same day one way tickets for the run back down to Odawara.
• The road opens 5:30 AM to 10:30 PM, with last entry at 10:00 PM. The operator can shorten the hours in bad weather, and the Sky Lounge closes when the road does.
• Motorbikes of 125 cc and under, mopeds, electric kick scooters, bicycles and pedestrians cannot use the road. Cyclists reach Daikanzan by a separate path from the Tsubaki Line, which closes outside the road's hours.
• The Daikanzan car park beside the Sky Lounge is the stop at the top of the main line. Part of it is closed all day on weekdays outside busy periods and opens 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekends and holidays. The car park at the Odawara toll gate has vending machines.
• Parking or walking on the road and holding car park spaces for a long time without permission are not allowed. Drones cannot be flown anywhere over the road, car parks, paths or buildings, whatever their weight.
• Car clubs can book the Daikanzan meet area online from 90 days ahead: ¥20,000 for the sealed section or ¥10,000 for the unsealed section, each about 40 cars, or ¥28,000 for the whole F car park. Meets are not taken in January and February, Golden Week, Obon, New Year or on event days.
• Organised car club meetings at Daikanzan are listed on the operator's site.
• The tea lounge opens 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM on weekdays and 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on weekends and holidays. Road stickers cost ¥350 to ¥700.
• An EV charger is in the Sky Lounge car park.
• The road starts in Odawara, a stop on the Tokaido Shinkansen, and the toll gate entrance is off the Odawara Atsugi Road at the Odawara Nishi interchange.

• Last verified: 3 November 2026
• Official link: https://www.htpl.co.jp/