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Akan-Mashū NP, Hokkaido
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At Oyakotsu Jigoku, hot water bubbles at the lake’s edge and steam escapes cracks in the cliff. In 1858, Matsuura Takeshirō recorded black smoke, rumbling, and flames reflected so brightly that the lake looked like day at dusk.
Wakoto is home to Japan’s northernmost population of the min-min cicada, a warm-region species. This isolated population was designated a national Natural Monument in 1951—a remarkable outpost of its range in eastern Hokkaido.
Geothermal warmth gives Wakoto a surprisingly gentle winter: researchers measured it 1.2–1.7°C warmer than Kawayu, 11.3 km away, from September through February. The tiny band-legged ground cricket stays active here year-round.
Wakoto began as a volcanic dome rising from beneath Lake Kussharo, surrounded by water like an island. Over time, sediment built up between it and the shore, joining the two to form today’s peninsula.
Black woodpeckers are among Wakoto’s notable birds, and they come with a canoe-making story. An Ainu tradition says their tree cavities inspired dugout canoes; the bird’s Ainu name means “canoe-carving god.”
Wakoto’s abundant katsura trees have autumn leaves that can smell like caramel, cotton candy, or brown sugar. They also renew themselves as new trunks sprout around an older one, so the tree can keep growing even if its main trunk breaks.
A local field center interprets the Ainu name O-ya-kot as “the backside attached to land,” a vivid description of the peninsula’s shape. It says travel writer Omachi Keigetsu supplied the kanji 和琴 after visiting in 1921.
