PhotoHakone · Kanagawa Prefecture

Family kimono photoshoot in Hakone

In short

A family kimono photoshoot in Hakone costs $300 for 30 minutes and 15 edited photos within three days, plus kimono rental and dressing at $55 per person at a studio in Hakone-Yumoto (a dresser at your ryokan is quoted separately). We shoot the ryokan garden or the lake path near Hakone Shrine; an extra hour ($150) covers both, with the cedar avenue between.

Starting from: $300
Duration: 30 min
Edited photos: 15

Why here

Why choose Family kimono photoshoot in Hakone?

Hakone has very few kimono rental shops, which changes how a family kimono shoot works here: the kimono add-on dresses everyone at the nearest studio in Hakone-Yumoto, or a dresser can come to your ryokan with sizes for everyone, quoted separately, and the first frames are in its garden. With an extra hour, it is then a short drive to the cedar avenue and the lake path by Hakone Shrine — shade, water, and the torii seen from the side, without asking small children to wait in its queue.

How the shoot is planned

How a session in Hakone is planned

The route

Dressing happens in your room before the clock starts: about 15 minutes for each child, 30 to 60 for each adult. The session opens in the ryokan garden, where the little ones can run on flat ground while we get the family group and each child alone. With an extra hour, a short drive to Moto-Hakone follows: a walk under the tall cedars of the old Tokaido avenue, a stop on the lake path north of the torii where the gate stands side-on with the water behind, and a final group on the shore. We build in a snack break, and the route has no long staircase.

The timing

Morning suits both the light and young children; aim to be at the lake before about 10:00, when the shrine area fills. Late September to early November is mild enough for kimono without layers piled underneath, with gold grass at Sengokuhara as an alternative stop. Around 15 November, Japanese families bring children to shrines for Shichi-go-san, which is lovely but busy — book a weekday. In winter we add thermal layers under the kimono; lakeside mornings are near freezing.

What’s included

What Family kimono photoshoot in Hakone includes

In the package

15 edited photos
A studio with children’s sizes, near the route
A short walking route with breaks
Private online gallery within 3 days

Fees and permits on the route

Lake Ashi sightseeing cruise: One-way fare roughly ¥1,200–1,500; covered by the Hakone Freepass
Owakudani: Ropeway fare; free on site; closes when gas levels rise
Hakone Open-Air Museum: About ¥2,000 per adult; personal photos allowed outdoors, commercial shoots need permission

Book online

Inspiration

Family kimono photoshoot: ideas for your shoot

Frames by photographers on Unsplash, credited below — the mood to plan your own shoot against, not our portfolio.

Photos: Damian Hutter, ERIC MIYAGI, EMANUELE Ricciardi, Svetlana Gumerova, Haewon Oh on Unsplash

Before you book

FAQ — Family kimono photoshoot in Hakone

How much is a family kimono photoshoot in Hakone?

$300 for 30 minutes and 15 edited photos within three days. Kimono rental and dressing at a studio near the shoot is $55 per person, children included; a dresser at your ryokan is quoted separately on request. For a family of four that is $520 in total before transport. Hair styling for adults is $100.

Can the children wear the ryokan’s yukata instead?

In the ryokan garden, yes, and it is a nice relaxed set. Outside, no: yukata are loungewear in a ryokan, and at the lake they look out of place. Under three, a simple jinbei or matching clothes save a lot of tears.

Can we bring a pushchair on this route?

Yes. The ryokan garden, the cedar avenue and the lake path are walkable with one, and we skip the shrine’s stone steps and the torii queue. Kimono and pushchairs together are easier with one adult free, so let us know who will push.

Same shoot elsewhere