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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Yamanashi
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Photographer Kōyō Okada captured “Kohan no Haru” (“Spring by the Lake”) here in 1935. His reflected Fuji inspired the reverse designs of the 1984 ¥5,000 and 2004 ¥1,000 banknotes.
The perfect mirror-Fuji is a rare guest: Japan’s Environment Ministry says it is said to appear on only a few days each year. Even the famous banknote view needs exceptionally calm water.
A Minobu folktale sends 4 villages racing to win a relocated temple: Seto residents slipped out first, then hauled its heavy bell down the Nakanokura Pass road. The tale says the dragging left scars still visible on the bell.
Japan’s cultural heritage dossier says the panorama from Nakanokura Pass remains almost unchanged from Okada’s 1935 photograph. Lake Motosuko was designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 2011.
Okada called Fuji “Fujiko” and spent nearly 60 years photographing her—about 400,000 images. His repeated searches for new angles around the Fuji Five Lakes made him a familiar face and friend to many local residents.
By the 16th century, Lake Motosuko was more than a beautiful view: Fuji-ko believers included it in the “Uchihakkai-mairi,” an eight-lake circuit for water purification and ascetic practice.
A lookout built for the hillside: in 2016, a steep, slippery slope here was replaced by a stepped viewing deck and interpretive signs, making it safer to pause over the Fuji-and-lake panorama.
