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Akan-Mashū NP, Hokkaido
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A canoe trip can begin on the lake and slip into the Kushiro River through a narrow, wooded outlet. Nearby, “Mirror Pool” is so clear you can watch springs bubble up through the riverbed.
In 1973, about 40 schoolchildren reported 2 humps moving across Kussharo’s water, sparking a “Kusshie” monster craze. Locals formed a “Protect Kusshie” group and even held a bon dance around its mascot.
The green island at the lake’s center is Nakajima, Japan’s largest lake island: 5.7 km² of volcanic land, with 2 lava domes and a high point of 355 m.
The lake may freeze, but just beyond it the Kushiro River keeps flowing. A government guide notes its current stays ice-free, allowing guided winter canoe trips beneath snow-covered trees.
In a recorded Ainu oral tale, the hero Otashitonkuru harpoons a giant amemasu. As the fish thrashes, the mountain tied to the harpoon rope plunges into the lake and becomes Nakajima.
Kussharo’s water measured pH 4 in 1960—strongly acidic. Without a neutralization plant, it gradually returned toward neutral from the 1980s, and fish returned too.
Kussharo’s only outlet becomes the 154-km Kushiro River, which has no artificial dams or weirs—a rarity among Japanese rivers, according to the transport ministry.
The Ainu word behind Kussharo, “Kutcharo,” means “throat” or “mouth.” It refers to the lake’s outflow, where water begins its journey down the Kushiro River.
Pottery found near Lake Kussharo is nearly 7,000 years old—long before the Ainu village of Kussharo Kotan first appears in a written record, in 1858.
Since October 1, 2021, motorized boats have generally been prohibited across Kussharo from April 1 to December 31. The rule helps protect the lake’s quiet scenery and aquatic plants.
When much of Kussharo freezes, geothermal heat keeps a few shoreline patches open. Siberian whooper swans gather in these unfrozen waters, including near Sunayu and Kotan.
On Kussharo’s frozen surface, temperature swings can push cracked ice into ridges up to 2 m high and 10 km long. This dramatic winter phenomenon is called Omiwatari, or “God’s crossing.”
On Kussharo’s northeastern shore, Goishi-hama means “Go-stone beach.” Its flat, rounded pebbles—often sharply black and white—resemble the playing stones used in the board game Go.
