Mashu & Kussharo area
nature
摩周湖・屈斜路湖エリア
Eastern half of Akan-Mashu National Park, with two of Japan's deepest caldera lakes, the steaming Mt. Io, and Kawayu Onsen in the forest between them.
Lake Mashu is ranked among the world's clearest lakes and Lake Kussharo is Japan's largest caldera lake; both formed in the same volcanic complex 30,000 years ago. The fog that frequently shrouds Mashu earns it the local name Kamuy-to ('lake of the gods'). Bihoro Pass on the western rim of Kussharo gives the panoramic view; the Wakoto Peninsula on the southern shore has hot-spring beaches where bathers dig their own pool in the sand. Kawayu Onsen in the forest between the two lakes runs on direct geothermal feed from Mt. Io's fumaroles, which a 1.5km trail crosses on the way to the crater.
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