Lake Tazawa

1. Lake Tazawa, situated in the east of Akita prefecture, is a circular caldera of 423m depth, the deepest in Japan. The section has the form of a bucket and its water is dark blue with the transparency of about 30m. The shore is fit for the camping and Tazawa Highland which belongs to Towada Hachiman National Park spreads in the east.
2. Mt. Akita-Koma is a volcano with Mt. Otoko-Onna as the main peak (1673m). From the top, you can see below Lake Tazawa which looks like a mirror, and get a panoramic view of 360 degrees on Mt. Iwate, Plateau of Hachiman etc. Mt. Koma is also well known by the beautiful bunches of Alpine flowers.
3. Tazawako Highland located at the southern limit of Towada Hachiman National Park is a large highland opened on the skirt of Mt. Koma and Mt. Nyuto, and facing Lake Tazawa. There exist 3 kinds of hot springs: sporting Mizusawa Spa, modern Tazawako-kogen Spa and secret Nyuto Spa. In winter, it is crowded by 4 big skiing grounds like Tazawako Resort.
4. In the old days, a girl with a rare beauty, called Tatsuko, was living near Lake Tazawa. When, in order to keep her beauty forever, she drank the water of a source by following a revelation of Goddess Kannon, suddenly she transformed herself into a big dragon. Since then, she would have become the master of Lake Tazawa and been hiding at its bottom even now.