Akan National Park
This was Japan’s second national park, and it’s easy to see why it received such recognition. A geological marvel, the park contains no less than 22 volcanoes, as well as three caldera or crater lakes, each of which is unique. The most visited lake is Akan-ko. Akan-ko is famous for the fuzzy green algae known in Japanese as marimo, which grows only here and in a handful of other places around the world. Marimo forms fuzzy green balls, which grow very slowly over time, reaching a foot in diameter after 200 years or so. Smaller marimo in glass bottles are a popular souvenir, showing up on desktops and in windows throughout Japan. Akan-ko is also home to Akan-ko onsen, a small hot spring resort village with a number of ryokan and minshuku where travelers can stay. The Ainu Kotan village is also located here, though the Ainu who lived in this area were historically closer to Kussharo-ko, another of the National Park’s lakes. Nevertheless, the village is a good place to see Ainu handicrafts. The thatch-roofed lodge past the souvenir shops is also an excellent place to see Ainu dances accompanied by traditional instruments. The other two lakes are less visited, but certainly no less interesting, than Akan-ko. Kussharo-ko, in addition to being one of Japan’s largest alpine lakes, is also geothermally active, with bubbling hot springs near enough to the shore in places that visitors can dig holes in the sand and bask in hot water right next to the beach.
Mashu-ko is amazing. Ringed by steep rock cliffs, the lake is inaccessible and can only be viewed from two scenic overlooks. It’s a deep, crescent shaped crater lake and one of the most pristine bodies of fresh-water on earth. Interestingly, despite the fact that no water visibly flows either into or out of the lake, its level remains constant, a fact which prompted the Ainu to call Mashu-ko the “devil’s lake.” The stunted, wind-twisted trees that overlook the lake in places, as well as the mist that often wreaths the surface of the water, lend Mashu-ko an otherworldly aspect that isn’t easily forgotten.
More Info.:
The Ainu
Lake Akanko/Ainu Kotan Village
Akan Tourism Info: http://www.lake-akan.com/
