4301 Travel Guide

Oshino Hakkai, in Oshino village at Mt. Fuji's northern foot, Yamanashi, Japan, is eight spring-fed ponds where Fuji's snowmelt filters through lava — ancient sacred pools, part of the Mt. Fuji World Heritage. The eight ponds are crystal clear with koi, mirroring Fuji and pines; the old village and boardwalks make it a place of drawing water, prayer, summer escape and photography — distilling the pure 'water, mountain, village' poetry at Fuji's base, a gentle stop on the Fuji Five Lakes loop.