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Towada-Hachimantai NP, Aomori / Akita
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Towada’s beloved himemasu is a hard-won delicacy: native fish couldn’t pass Choshi Falls into the lake. After stocking failures, Wainai Sadayuki’s wife pawned her kimono, comb and watch to buy eggs; the fish returned to spawn in 1905.
Towada’s 915 eruption was felt far away: Aomori’s history guide links it to a Kyoto chronicle describing a dimmed sun that looked like the moon. Volcanologists identify 915 as the volcano’s latest eruption.
In the San-ko (“Three Lakes”) legend, monk Nansobo defeats dragon-shaped Hachirotaro for dominion over Towada. The defeated dragon flees to Hachirogata, and the story later links him with Tatsuko, the spirit of Lake Tazawa.
At Towada’s old lakeside oracle, pilgrims scattered rice or coins over the water to seek omens. Coins recovered in the Meiji era included Tang- and Song-period types, hinting at the site’s long history as a sacred destination.
Towada’s himemasu carries two names: kabacheppo, an Ainu term the hatchery translates as “thin little fish,” and himemasu (“princess trout”), coined in 1908 by a Hokkaido fisheries technician.
Towada is a caldera within a caldera: the later, 3-km Nakanoumi crater lies inside the 11-km outer basin, its outline partly traced by 2 peninsulas. Its 326.8-m depth makes Lake Towada Japan’s third-deepest lake.
Towada never freezes over completely. In winter, the deep Nakanoumi basin holds water around 5°C below 100 m; researchers suspect groundwater springs beneath the lake help create this unusually warm layer.
After more than 130 years without an officially settled boundary across the lake, the Aomori–Akita division was fixed in 2008: 60% to Towada and 40% to Kosaka. For 10 years, added local tax revenue was directed to lake conservation and scenery.
Five historic pilgrimage roads, approaching from Aomori and Akita, once converged at Lake Towada. Aomori’s prefectural history describes it as a major northern mountain sanctuary, revered alongside Osorezan in the Nambu domain.
During a 1908 visit to Towada, writer Omachi Keigetsu described dozens of residents singing and dancing Bon-odori in a circle outside a local home, specifically to add cheer to the travelers’ evening.
Omachi Keigetsu’s 1908 travel writing helped make Towada nationally known. His account appeared in the popular magazine Taiyo; Aomori Prefecture’s archives say the writing introduced the lake across Japan.
The Otome no Zo is also a tribute to Towada’s promoters. Erected in 1953, Takamura Kotaro’s bronze pair honors writer Omachi Keigetsu, who publicized the lake, and 2 local leaders who helped secure its national-park status.
Takamura’s bronze pair represents one woman and her reflection, not 2 separate maidens. Inspired by the lake’s mirror image, he cast both figures from the same mold to suggest an outer self facing the unknown depths within.
The model for the Otome no Zo was 19-year-old Teruko Fujii, not Takamura’s late wife Chieko. Friends noticed the resemblance, but Takamura never confirmed it, leaving the interpretation open.
