Oshino Hakkai, Eight sacred ponds in Oshino village, Japan
Oshino Hakkai is a group of eight spring-fed ponds near the base of Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture. Each pond has its own name and displays water that emerges from the mountain's porous volcanic rock after traveling through underground layers.
The area was once part of a larger lake that dried up during medieval times, leaving behind the present springs. The ponds later gained recognition as sacred sites for mountain pilgrims and received protection status in the 20th century.
Pilgrims traveling to Mount Fuji once stopped at these springs for ritual washing before beginning their climb. Small shrines near several ponds still show how people use the water for blessings and prayer offerings.
Visitors arrive by bus from Kawaguchiko or by rental car following signposted roads to the village entrance. The springs sit within an open village setting with footpaths, souvenir shops, and a small museum explaining the geological process.
One of the ponds, Wakuike, measures over 8 meters deep despite appearing small from above. Scientists collected water samples from this pond in the 1980s for a space experiment aboard the Space Shuttle.
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