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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Yamanashi
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In 1983, water collected from Waku Pond rode aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger for an experiment making snow crystals in orbit. One of Oshino’s quiet springs briefly became part of space science.
The eight springs also solved a practical problem for Fuji worshippers: the older Inner Eight Lakes circuit took several days. In the mid-19th century, a compact Oshino circuit made ritual purification possible in 1 day.
Oshino’s famous spring water has a place in the kitchen, too: the village tourism association says more than 10 tofu shops once made tofu here using the celebrated water. A local food trade grew around the springs.
The eight springs are said to trace a pattern in the sky: 7 represent the Big Dipper, while the separated Deguchi Pond stands for Polaris. It is also the largest of the eight—a North Star with its own spring.
The large pond surrounded by shops in the village center may catch your eye, but it is not one of Oshino Hakkai’s 8 sacred springs. It was created later; the official eight are the named springs around the village.
“Oshino Hakkai” is a surprisingly recent name: Japan’s Tourism Agency says it dates to the 1930s. Before then, the pilgrimage springs were called “Shibokusa no Moto Hakko,” or the Original Eight Lakes of Shibokusa.
Fuji’s snowmelt is famous here, but it is not the whole story: village information and groundwater research also identify water from the Shakushi–Ishiwari foothills and a flow from the Doshi Mountains toward the springs.
Each spring has a stone monument honoring one of the 8 Dragon Kings from the Lotus Sutra, with a poem and the pool’s place in the purification route. A temple in Oshino still preserves a woodblock recording the details.
Local lore gave Sokonashi Pond, the “Bottomless Pond,” a curious connection to Okama Pond: washing tools or vegetables dropped into Sokonashi were said to vanish in a whirlpool and later surface in Okama.
According to local tradition, Kagami Pond’s water could reveal right from wrong. When neighbors argued, both sides were said to bathe in its water and pray for the dispute to be resolved—a reflective pool with a peacemaking role.
The shobu in Shobu Pond is not an iris: the village identifies it as a member of the Acoraceae family. The yellow iris also growing there is a different, introduced plant; the pond’s name refers to the traditional bath herb.
Okama Pond is the smallest of the eight, with an area of just 24 square meters, yet it reaches 4 meters deep. Its name means “kettle,” inspired by the spring water bubbling up as if it were boiling.
Waku Pond covers only 152 square meters, but village measurements list its spring flow at 2.2 cubic meters per second—about 132,000 liters a minute. That clear pool is being renewed by a powerful underground supply.
