Gyokuren Shrine is a Japanese shrine located at Hakone Yumoto. This particular shrine is famous for its waterfall coming down the cliff into the pond, and within the pond, there are stepping stones for people to walk on and get to the center of the pond. Gyokuren Shrine is about 15 minutes of walk from Hakone Yumoto train station and need to cross the bridge first in order to get here. The place may be a bit difficult to spot because it is partially hidden behind Tenseien Hotel. There are signs at the side of the hotel to indicate where Gyokuren Shrine is at.
We got to Gyokuren Shrine around 11AM in the morning. As we walked towards the waterfall, we noticed several ducks roaming around on the ground. There were also many pigeons wondering around in the area. We were guessing that these ducks and pigeons are probably being fed by the hotel employees. If you are scared of any sort of bird, this may not be the place for you to visit.
We did not see many people here. This is probably because Gyokuren Shrine is a smaller shrine and a bit out of the way for people to visit. However, the waterfall coming off the cliff bring cool breeze during the hot and humid summer day. We really needed that. The actual shrine is on top of the cliff and we had to walk all the way up. The staircases are made out of stones and are quite slipper due to the moist coming from the waterfall. The height have each steps are also quite high. Thus we recommend people to walk slowly to make sure they do not slip and fall.
When we got to the top, we made some donation and made a quick prayer. We did not linger there for a long time because there was quite a few mosquitos around.
Overall, Gyokuren Shrine is a cool place to visit if you are into waterfalls like us, or if you are into shrines. You can walk to the center of the pond by stepping on the stones, just make sure you do not slip and fall into the pond.
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