Lake Mashū — Attraction in Teshikaga

10 stars if I could, the first time here it was very foggy and mysterious. It actually has a reputation for being a mysterious place and I can see why. Fog lasted for most of the day and we were there very early. This second trip was absolutely breathtaking!! Not a single cloud in the sky, on the 1300ft drive up we saw plenty of deer and quite a few red foxes ( not the actor lol ). It is what they refer to a caldera lake and is pure in every sense of the word. It is the second clearest/ purest lake on earth behind Lake Baikal in Russia. There are 3 observatories in all 2 of them are on the west side, observatory 1 which is the eldest of the 3 sits 692ft above Lake Mashu and has washrooms and souvenir shops and restaurants the parking here is not free while at observation point 3 sitting at 2198ft has free parking and in my opinion a much more ooooh and awe view. There isn't any amenities like washrooms here though. Observation point 2 is on the east and is another amazing view. You simply have to come and see it in person, the blue water has to be seen. I've never ever seen a color so mystifying and magical. You can also see Lake Kussharo and see Mt Lo. You can't go down near the water hence the purity of the water. The are other places within Aklan National Park like Lake Kuttara, the water is almost as pure but you can go down to the water and ride paddleboats. Add another tick on your bucket list...

This is a very beautiful lake and makes for incredible hiking. We visited recently and added a day hike around this lake to the short hike past Mt Io. Getting to the lake is a little tricky if you are staying in Kawayu Onsen. There is a bus which operates on a limited schedule from Mashu town but leaves late and returns early leaving very little time for anything more than visiting the observation deck. Definitely not for a long day hike. We didn’t have a car so ended up hitch hiking to and from the lake. Fortunately Japanese people are extremely nice and we easily got rides to and from Kawayu Onsen.

We did the hike around the south portion of the lake to the Mt Kamui lookout point. An amazing hike with zero visibility on the way out but the clouds lifted for the return and we finally got to see how beautiful the lake is. Afterwards, we got to go back to our ryokan and relax away our pain. If you want any specific info on this hike, feel free to reach out to us. You can find our exact route by searching for Career Break Adventures and Lake Mashu, Japanese Hike or something similar. Good...

微雨的天、飄忽的霧、模糊的山、朦朧的湖、綽約的樹……，像極了國畫裏的山水，望著這景，我不自禁地效法李白遊水西寺時的「幽客時憩泊」，便停留在這兒一一第一觀景台，好好欣賞煙霏霧集的景致。 過一會，霧散雨收，陽光和煦地灑在山上、湖面、樹梢……，映得它們都光亮了起來，清晰的輪廓，跟剛剛風情大不相同。 第一觀景台很大，從某個角落、某根欄前、某片平台看景，因著角度差一點、風姿就歧異了一點，情韻也別樣了一點。 我驀然回望身後，吃了一驚：一條寬敞的馬路蜿蜒地朝弟子屈而去，路邊有廣闊的停車場，前方有成排的樹林、遠方有參差的住宅、更遠方有大片的層雲……，這景也滿美的啊！ 展望台建於昭和54年（西元1979年），2022年做了整修，現在看到的設施又新又周全一一斜坡、階梯、木欄、地板、沙發、介紹牌……，遊客在行走、歇息、觀賞時都安全、舒適、方便。 覽完了這座觀景台、兩分鐘後，走上了另一座觀景台，站在凸出台子上、倚著圓弧形欄杆前，縱目四望，視線更寬、湖面更大、勝景更多，尤其是兀立在藍色湖水中的那座小島，美呆了。 這座排名日本第20大的湖，面積19.6平方公里、海拔高度355公尺、最大寬度6公里、平均深度137.5公尺、最大深度211.5公尺、能見深度由二十世紀的41.6公尺減為目前的20公尺、水源來自乾淨的雨水、水色獨特到產生專有名詞「摩周藍」、霧靄多到別稱「霧的摩周湖」、阿伊努人說它是「有海鷗的湖」、原住民阿伊努人稱它「山神的湖」、紅鉤吻鮭虹鱒存身的湖……，特點很多吧？ 湖中那座美美的小島，其實不是「島」，是個露出湖面30公尺的火山口，愛努（阿伊努）語叫它「成為神的老婆婆」，傳說中，有位老婆婆為了找孫子來到這裏，由於悲傷又疲憊，無法移動身子到他處，便在這兒化做了小島，因而流傳出這則動人故事！ 看了這處湖景，我興起一個想法：如果只有山、水、湖、樹、石、屋……而少了島，便不夠絕美，得在湖中加上「島」，例如摩周湖的火山島、知床三湖的樹島，那才完好無瑕呢！ 觀景台下面是休息站，從湖邊樓梯下去，左轉進門之前，角落架著一座木框，上面橫刻「摩周湖」三個白色大字，醒目又有紀念性，於是我站到框下，跟它合拍了張照片。之後，站上階梯，專注地欣賞空框，這時，才發現框中有湖也有島，匯聚摩周湖最精華的部份於一處。幸好現在發現了，沒有漏失眼福，沒有造成遺憾。 大門與木框間，有個小小的空位，內中有座小小的神社，頗為別致。 一樓的休息中心很大，有土產、冷飲、熱飲、霜淇淋、洗手間……。眾多食物中，最受青睞的，大概是摩周藍霜淇淋，常見它被握在遊客手中。營業時間8：3017：00。 湖邊另有兩個展望台一一第三展望台，能看到屈斜路湖、硫磺山，但沒商店；裏摩周展望台，最接近湖邊，但視野略狹。兩處各具優缺點，冬天（11月次年4月）都不開放。 這裏除了賞景，還可進行多種活動：漫步、健行、登山（摩周岳，海拔857公尺，層狀火山，距湖面502公尺，能邊登山邊賞湖；西別岳，海拔799公尺，能在山頂眺望摩周湖）、騎腳踏車、雪地行走……，所以，任何一個季節...