Clear ponds
You can see the beds.
lumoplank — CC0 · Snap55 — CC BY 3.0 · 663highland — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 663highland — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Koichi Shibata — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 663highland — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Olaf2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Olaf2 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Eight springs in Oshino village, between Fujiyoshida and Lake Yamanaka, where water from Mount Fuji and nearby mountains emerges after seeping underground through layers of volcanic rock, welling up clear and cold into ponds whose beds you can see plainly. They have been a national Natural Monument since 1934, one of Japan's «100 Remarkable Waters» since 1985, and part of the Mount Fuji World Heritage Site since 2013. An old lake here dried up and the basin became farmland, leaving the spring outlets as small ponds. The name Hakkai, «eight seas», comes from Fuji pilgrims who made a circuit of eight springs before climbing the mountain; in 1843 a route linking the eight ponds was laid out. The best known is Waku-ike, the deepest, and most visitors circle the seven ponds around it, where fish and water weed show with remarkable clarity. Around the ponds stand thatched houses and a wooden water mill, with Mount Fuji above on clear days, and stalls selling snacks and souvenirs. Walking among the ponds is free, and buses run from Kawaguchiko and Mt. Fuji stations. It gets crowded at midday and at weekends, so early morning is calmer, and in winter morning mist can rise from the ponds.
You can see the beds.
And a water mill.
On clear days.
Oshino village, Yamanashi Prefecture
From rain and snowmelt on Mount Fuji and nearby mountains, which seeps underground through volcanic rock and wells up clear and cold in the village ponds.