Lake Tazawa (or Tazawako) is Japan’s deepest lake, at 423 meters. It’s about a 3 hour drive from Misawa (straight south on the Tollway to Morioka then west about an hour through (and I mean literally through) the mountains. Like many lakes in Japan, Tazawako is a volcano crater lake, which perhaps adds to its mysticism.
We went camping there over the labor day weekend with three other families with young children. We only had time for one night but nobody cared, it was an excuse to get out the un-air conditioned houses and into an air-conditioned car. It rained intermittently most of the day on Friday, and the winds were no picnic either (something about a tropical storm coming through the area).
The rain wasn’t ever heavy and out tents were protected by the trees, so we didn’t have any problem with them. No one complained, however, because we were all just so happy to not be home in the 80 F heat and 70% humidity with (did I mention it earlier?) no air conditioning.
You can see the huge white-capped waves on the lake here. Too rough for swimming, but impressive to admire.
On the other side of the lake from where we camped is this statue of a lady whose name I don’t recall and I’m too lazy to Wikipedia. The story goes (and I’ll condense it significantly) is: she prayed 100 days for beauty. Turned into a dragon. Met up with another dragon who used be a guy but was turned into a dragon by a sorcerer for some unrelated crime, they fell in love. Got married. Live in different lakes but get “together” once a year and have fun at the bottom of the lake (which is why it never freezes).
Let’s keep this post kid-friendly. Here’s a picture of some kids.
Shrine at the northern tip of the lake.
The water is blue because it is deep. This water is the cleanest and clearest water you will find. Here I’m standing at the water’s edge and it just goes straight down.
Camping is fun. I don’t know why.
Maybe it’s because of the treehouse!!
Blueberries.
When we all got up on Saturday morning, the lake was perfectly calm. One family brought a kayak.
I’m the really buff handsome guy throwing Mark in the air.
Three reasons I will go back to Tazawako: The water was clean and clear. There was no seaweed. The bottom was sand, not dirt and rocks (well, a few rocks but not many but because the water was so clean and clear, and seaweedless you could see whatever rocks there were).
Saying good-bye to the lady statue on our way out.
Till next time Tazawako.
Rob
No comments:
Post a Comment