Hakone fireworks traffic

i everyone,

I�fm planning a trip to Hakone for one night on August 5th. I�fm excited about the fireworks festival at Lake Ashi, but I have some concerns regarding the logistics.

We will be traveling by car, and I�fm a bit worried about the heavy traffic and potential parking issues during the festival. I�fm trying to decide if it's worth the hassle or if I should adjust my plans.

How difficult is it to find parking near Lake Ashi on a festival night? Are there specific areas (like Moto-Hakone or Togendai) that are "traps" for cars during this time?

Is there a specific area to stay in that would allow us to see the fireworks but make it easier to drive out the next morning without getting stuck in gridlock?

Alternative: Would you recommend staying further away (maybe Odawara or another nearby town) and using public transport for that evening instead, or is the traffic just as bad for buses?

I�fd love to hear from anyone who has driven in the Hakone area during the August festivals. Is it manageable with a car, or should we consider avoiding the area on this specific date?

Thanks for your help!

This reply comes with limited information - but I do remember Hakone having heavy traffic mid week when I visited over a decade ago and there will be limited parking unless you are staying in a hotel with dedicated parking. Others who know Hakone well can answer with more information.

Given no other replies, I can add a perspective from my last few trips to the Hakone area.
I try to avoid "busy" times and previously weekdays fell into that category. My visit on a weekday at the end of March resulted is excessive crowding on the public transport to the extent some queues were in excess of two hours - I never did find the end of the ropeway queue.
More recently (last week), while some transport was out of action (Monday), it remained the case that the road transport options were hopelessly over-crowded (including on Tuesday). A trip I did by road recently would have been faster walking from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto (non-holiday weekday) - 7 km in 90 minutes.
I do not recall particularly much parking at the lake and with limited road options, sure, you might get out, but you could easily get stuck in a traffic jam. Travelling by car, it would be slow, and likely take a lot longer than you think.
These days, to me it seams that conjestion has reached a tipping point where things are too conjested for anything to be enjoyable.
The Hakone-Navi website is a good source , but their description of "extreme" probably does not convey the fact people can get stranded.
Just a personal view based on my last half-dozen visits over the past year.