Bentennuma (Goshikinuma Pond Group)

Bentennuma is the second largest of the Goshikinuma ponds, a colorful cluster of around 30 shallow ponds and marshes formed when Mt. Bandai erupted in 1888 and triggered a landslide that blocked a nearby river. This blue, green, and milky white pond is one of the less acidic ponds of the group, so it is more likely to freeze over during the winter. A species of moss that grows in the pond, Drepanocladus fluitans, forms dense mats along the bottom. The pond is named after Benten, the Buddhist goddess of water and the arts, one of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods worshipped since the Muromachi period (1136–1573).