Shiogama Spring

Shiogama Spring produces 300 liters of cold, mineral-light water per second from a gourd-shaped pool at the base of Mt. Naka-Hiruzen. The water stays around 11 degrees Celsius year-round and supplies around 600 local households, with many residents collecting it for drinking and preparing tea. The spring is considered sacred: a twisted straw rope with white paper strips marks the approach, and each June 20 residents hold a ceremony to honor the water's role in irrigating Hiruzen's farmland and to pray for a good harvest. The pool is home to a freshwater snail called the monoaragai, whose consumption of algae keeps the water unusually clear.