Lake Tazawa

Tazawa is 423 metres deep, the deepest lake in Japan by a wide margin, and it does not freeze. The water is a strong blue and the shore road rings it in about twenty kilometres. The Tatsuko statue, gilded and standing at the water's edge on the western side, is the image everyone photographs; it represents a woman from local legend who sought eternal beauty and was turned into the lake's dragon. The lake's other story is more recent and worth knowing: in 1940 acidic water from the Tama River was diverted in for hydroelectric development, the pH crashed, and the endemic kunimasu salmon that lived only here was declared extinct. In 2010 a population was found surviving in Lake Sai near Mount Fuji, from eggs transplanted there in the 1930s, and restoration of Tazawa's water quality has been under way since.

History

The lake was named in the Meiji period, when its foothills were settled, though the name is thought to come from an Ainu word for a hill with a round top. The bronze statue of Tatsuko, the maiden of the legend who wished for lasting youth and was turned into a lake goddess, is by Yasutake Funakoshi and was unveiled in May 1968 (Wikipedia, Lake Tazawa).

The landscape

• The deepest lake in Japan - 423 metres, and never frozen.
• The Tatsuko statue - gilded and standing at the water's edge on the west shore.
• The kunimasu story - a fish lost here in the 1940s and rediscovered elsewhere in 2010.
• The ring road - about twenty kilometres around the shore.

When to go

May to October. A day. Autumn colour reaches the surrounding hills in late October.

Things to know

There is little at the lake beyond the shore road and a few stops - it is a drive rather than a destination. Buses are infrequent. Winter closes most facilities. The water remains acidic and fish life is limited.

Nearby

Nyuto Onsen is north-east in the hills; Kakunodate is south.

Key facts