Lake Towada

Towada is a caldera within a caldera - a later eruption cut the two peninsulas that give the lake its distinctive shape and left it about 327 metres deep, the third deepest in Japan. The water is very clear and very cold and the shore is largely undeveloped forest. The reason to come is what runs out of it: the Oirase Gorge, fourteen kilometres of stream from Nenokuchi down to Yakeyama, with a level walking path following the water past a continuous sequence of small falls, moss-covered boulders and beech forest. It is the single most photographed autumn walk in northern Japan and the colour usually peaks in the last week of October. Buses run along the road beside the path so the walk can be cut to any length. Boat cruises cross the lake between the two peninsulas in the warmer months.

History

The name is thought to come from the Ainu to watara, "rocky lake". Legend says Sakanoue no Tamuramaro built a small shrine on the Nakayama peninsula in 807, the last recorded eruption came in 915 from the Nakaumi caldera, and in the Heian and Kamakura periods the area was a place of prayer and training for the yamabushi (Wikipedia, Lake Towada).

The landscape

• A caldera within a caldera - two peninsulas cut by a later eruption.
• The Oirase Gorge - fourteen kilometres of streamside path past constant small falls.
• Late October colour - beech and maple peaking in the last week of the month.
• Cruises across the lake - between the peninsulas in the warmer months.

When to go

Late October for the colour; May to October otherwise. Two days.

Good to know

The autumn peak brings severe congestion - the gorge road jams and buses fill. The path runs beside a road for much of its length, and traffic noise carries. Winter closes the route entirely. Accommodation on the lake is limited and books out for the colour.

Nearby

Hakkoda is north-west; Hachimantai is south along the mountain road.

Key facts