The Oshino Hakkai (eight seas of Oshino) is located at the Oshino village of Ymanashi Prefecture, which is comprised of eight ponds (The ponds of Deguchi-ike, Okama-ike, Sokonuke-ike, Choshi-ike, Waku-ike, Nigori-ike, Kagami-ike and Shobu-ike) as its name described.

The area is filled with many tourist spots such as Japanese folk house with straw-thatched roof, the old temples, Museum of History and Folklore which building can be traced back to 1800s, as well as many gift shops and restaurants.

It is very convenient to visit the periphery areas such as Lake Yamanaka, Sakana Park and Oshino Park and so on for a enjoyable one-day trip.

The water source of these eight ponds are from the underground water of Mt. Fuji, there are ponds in different geological states such as the swamp-like ponds and the ponds with transparent water.

Oshino Hakkai was chosen as one of the Natural Monument of Japan, as well as one of the 100 selections of Water of Japan and the 100 selections of new Fugaku of the prefecture. It is a also a World Heritage of the UNESCO.

I paid a visit to Oshino Hakkai on March 21, 2014. The ground was still covered with snow and I remember the wild was very cold that day.

I left the Tomei Experessway at Gotemba, and went down passing Lake Yamanaka, went for Oshino Hakkai via National Road No. 138.

It was my first time to visit the area, so I had no idea where should I park my car, I just drove along the road and parked my car in a large parking lot that first popped into my eye.

After parked my car at the parking lot, I visited a gift shop, asked the local to give me some introductions on the route of Oshino Hakkai and kicked off my trip.

I took few pictures of the folk house with straw-thatched roof and the old warehouses that are rarely seen in urban areas these days.

I also found several newly built houses which was not in the modern architecture style but rather in pure Japanese-style.

These scenes are rarely seen even by Japanese people, I thought it must be some unique and unusual experience for the foreign tourist to see these scenes.

As I continued went down the road for a while, I saw a building comprised with a second-hand tool shop and a gift shop. There was also a cafe.

A public toilet and Shoubu-ike Pond were located passed the second-hand tool shop.

The left building is a public toilet.

Shoubu-ike pond was in a long and narrow shape, the name of the pond, Shoubu-ike, means the pond of sweet flag, was originated from there were many sweet flags thriving in the pond.

After enjoying the senery of Shobu-ike pond for a while, I went down the road and saw there were a old warehouse with straw-thatched roof and a folk house in pure Japanese architecture style.

After passing the folk house, Kagami-ike pond popped into my eye. Kagami-ike pond has little water pouring out from the ground, therefore the surface of the water stays still almost all the time, you can see the inverted image of Mt. fuji on the water surface on windless days. Unfortunately, Mt. Fuji was covered in the clouds the day I visited, so I didn’t had the luck to watch the inverted image of Mt. Fuji.

After passed the left bank of Kagami-ike pond, I reached an area packed with many tourists, after that I arrived at the area where Waku-ike pond and Nigori-ike pond located.

Waku-ike Pond is 12 meters in diameter. I was told the bottom of the pond is in a shape of reversed conical shape. Only 3 meters in depth of the water can be viewed through from the bank and the bottom of the pond is though to be at around 5 meters. The scenery with water constantly spring out of the surface was so beautiful.

Adjacent to the Waku-ike Pond was Nigori-ike Pond, a pond located near the watermill. The name of Nigori-ike Pond means turbid in Japanese, but the water was not turbid at all.

When I passed Kagami-ike pond, there was Naka-ike Pond which I was told to be an artificial pond. In pond of Japanese guide of 100 selections of famous clear water and transparent cobalt blue, many tourists saw figure which looked into photography and pond and thought that it was certainly one of the 8, Oshino seas.

There was actually another artificial pond which was very popular here. That was the carp pond in the ground of Hannoki Museum (a museum displays weaving machine, farming tools, etc.). The small pond behind the museum is called Sokonuke-ike Pond which is another pond of Oshino Hakkai. In the inner side of carp pond, there was Choshi-ike Pond which is said to be a pond of love knot.

Sokonuke-ike Pond belonged to the ground of the museum, therefore the admission charges were necessary. Choshi-ike pond is located outside of the museum, you have to go out of the museum in order to visit it.

There was also a guide service called “Hometown Oshino trip guide” which guide you through the whole 2 hour trips of Oshino Hakkai from Deguchi-ike Pond to Shobu-ike Pond.

After left Oshino Hakkai, I watched Mr. Fuji on my way home.

Basic Information

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