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Destinations... Japan Travel Guide The Yamasa Institute |
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Destinations... Japan Travel Guide The Yamasa Institute |
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Edited by: Declan Murphy Recommended: Suggested Itineraries Favorite Nagano moments... Best ways to get there Nagano Photogallery Newsgroups: fj.rec.travel.japan, Alt-FAQ Bulletin Boards: Fun/Clubs/Nightlife  Accommodation/Discounts
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Suwako is the largest lake in Nagano prefecture but it also features one of the world's largest geysers. It is also a region whose hot spring waters are so abundant that their use goes far beyond being used in onsen resorts. With its natural surroundings and varying climate, the lake and its surrounding area draws 6.4 million visitors annually and offers a slightly different mix of sights and attractions than those in other such settings.
Lake Suwa, located in the center of the prefecture, has a surface area of 14 square kilometers and is up to 7.6 meters deep. A variety of boats, some available for renting, cruise these waters for leisure or fishing but the lake is frozen for two to three months of the year. During those times, ice fishing for smelts is popular as is skating. Furthermore, there are 10 or more of days every year where the temperature falls below minus 10 degrees celsius causing a contraction and expansion of the ice. Eventually, the pressure causes the lake surface to break accompanied by loud cracking noises. In the process, the ice surface is also known to rise by about a meter higher. The locals call this very rare phenomenon Omiwatari (God's Cross/Passage) and believe this occurs when the two gods enshrined in the Suwa-Taisha Shrine, Prince Takeminakata and Princess Yasakatome, encounter each other.
There is also so much hot spring water in the area that it isn't reserved for use just at hotels and resorts. An outdoor hot spring bath is located also at Kami-Suwa Station for train users who only need to show their boarding or station admission ticket to use it (tel: 0266-52-0236, open daily 06:00-18:00). The Lake Suwa Service Area on the Chuo Expressway has one for drivers and their passengers with a sweeping view of the lake.
Recorded history of Suwa's hot springs first appeared in Kamakura period (1185 - 1333) literature. These waters have also been known to be used by people for bathing, cooking and washing during the Edo period (1603-1867). In the city of Suwa alone, there are wells in seven locations that pump out about 15 million liters per day, at an average temperature of 65 degrees celsius! Today, about 13,000 households are benefitting from being able to use the hot springs for everyday use, as well as government offices, commercial businesses, and schools.
Suwako has a circumference of 16 kilometers and is 759 meters above sea level. It is drained by the Tenryu River into the Pacific Ocean. The lakeshore is lined with towns such as Suwa, Shimosuwa and Okaya as well as a 1 kilometer-long park. The Stone Sculpture Park features an outdoor exhibit of works by artists from 7 countries.
Among the region's annual events is a music festival that takes place between August 1st and 14th, and a 45 year-old fireworks festival that features 30,000 shots that mirror against the lake surface. Roughly 400,000 spectators are drawn to this fireworks event.
As with Shinto tradition, the shrines are rebuilt every seven years. Here, at the Suwa Taisha Shrine, the Onbashira-matsuri is held to commemmorate and celebrate the event in grand style. It is a dynamic festival during which four large timbers for the four corners of the Shrine are cut down from a mountain, slid from atop a 30-degree hillside on which Ujiko climb up to roll down.
In the month before the festival, Yamadashi-sai, 16 logs of fir, each at about 17 meters long, 1 meter thick, and weighing 12 - 13 tonnes, are carried 20 kilometers to the Kami-sha and 10 kilometers to the Shimo-sha. The logs are set at the four corners of the main halls of each shrine. During the journey to the Shimo-sha, logs with daredevil men hanging on them are thrown off a cliff. Meanwhile, men carrying the logs to the Kami-sha walk through the Miyagawa River. The Satobiki-sai held one month later features a parade of horsemen and a dance performance of Hanagasa-odori.
Tours - Japan Discovery visits
Suwako.
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Declan Murphy and the students andSuwako Geyser Center
The Suwako Geyser Center, which faces the lake, sits in front of a geyser that spouts water up to about 40 to 50 meters high on a roughly hourly interval. It is one of the biggest geysers in the world. A large outdoor hot spring bath sits next to the lake. The Center's building houses indoor hot spring baths, a Lake Suwa reference room, and an exhibit called the Omiwatari Georama.
Tel: 0266-52-8282. Bathing fee for adults 510 yen, children 300 yen. Open daily 08:30-18:00 April-October, 09:00-17:00. November -March. It is a ten minute walk from Kamisuwa Station.
Suwa Taisha Shrine
The 1,200 year-old Suwa Taisha Shrine is one of the oldest in Japan and headquarters to more than 10,000 branches throughout the nation. The Shrine consists of two shrines, the Kami Suwa (Upper Shrine) and the Shimo Suwa (Lower Shrine). The gods enshrined in Suwa Shrine are Prince Takeminakata and Princess Yasakatome, representing chivalry, farming, hunting, wind, and war, though a modern interpretation also includes industry, traffic safety, and marriage.
Tel: 0266-52-1919. From Kami-suwa Station take the Junkan Bus. Get off at Kamisha after a 24 minute ride.
Katakuran Mansion
In a region saturated with hot spring baths, it takes a pretty distinctive place to recognized as the city's most famous. Arguably, the title here belongs to the Sennin-buro, or thousand person bath, a large marble bath which actually holds perhaps a hundred people but is still like a swimming pool, though only chest deep. There are also little pebbles laid across the bottom of the bath to give it a nice texture. It is located inside the Katakuran Mansion, a German-style brick building that dates back to the Taisho era. It was built in 1928 by a successful silk reeling business owner who wished to establish a health facility for his women factory workers similar to the ones he saw during his travels in Europe.
Tel: 0266-52-0604. Bathing fee: 400 yen. Open 10:00-21:00. Closed Tuesdays
A 10 minute walk from Kami-Suwa Station.
Takashima-jou
Known as the "Floating Castle of Suwa", Takashima-jou was originally built in 1598 by Hineno Oribenosho Takayoshi on a small island in Lake Suwa. Back then, it was a stronghold well-known for it’s impregnability and later served as the residence of the Takashima clan who once ruled Suwa. After being destroyed during the Meiji era, this three-level structure was rebuilt in 1970 south of the lake and is now used as a museum.
Tel: 0266-53-1173 Admission: 150 yen. Open daily 09:00-17:30, closes at 16:30 between October and March.
A 15 minute walk from Kami-Suwa Station /
Manji Stone Structure
Standing on the western end of Shimo-Suwa near the Suwa Taisha Shrine, some mystery surrounds how this stone figure was brought to Suwako all the way from Easter Island. An inscription on the body of the figure reads "Year 3 of the Manji Period (1660)"; however, according to experts, the head stone of the figure is much older than the body. Some believe that visitors from Easter Island had the head stones delivered to Suwa to commemorate the sojourn though there is some question as to how or why such people would visit this region back then.
A twenty minute walk from Shimo-Suwa Station on the JR Chuo Honsen Line.
Tateishi (Observation Tower) Park
The Park offers a panoramic view of Lake Suwa with reflections of the mountain ranges of the Japanese Alps, the city of Suwa, Shimosuwa-machi, and the city of Okaya. The park also has flower gardens, playground facilities, and walking paths.
A 10-minute taxi ride from Kami-Suwa Station
Kirigamine Ski Grounds
Lake Suwa's local ski facility has a wide range of courses to satisfy all levels of skiers. There are designated slopes for snowboarders as well.
Tel: 0266-52-1489. From Kami-Suwa Station take the bus bound for Kirigamine for a forty minute ride. Open from mid December to early April.
How to get there
From Nagoya Station:
Take a Limited Express train on the Chuo Honsen to Shiojiri, then a local train to Kami-Suwa Station. The trip takes approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Click here for more information regarding when Discovery visits this destination.
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