Lake Inawashiro and Mount Bandai, Japan37.4N 140.1E
Lake Inawashiro (center) is the fourth-largest lake in Japan, located on Honshu Island in the middle of Fukushima Prefecture, south of Mount Bandai. It is also known as the ‘Sky Mirror Lake’. Lake Iwanashiro is said to have the cleanest water in Japan. In winter swans migrate to the beaches of the lake and stay there until spring.
Mount Bandai is a stratovolcano in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. In a major eruption on July 15, 1888, the northern and eastern parts of the caldera collapsed in a massive landslide, forming two lakes, Hibara-ko and Onogawa-ko, as well as several minor lakes called Goshiki-numa, or the ‘Five Coloured Lakes’.
Volcanic debris blocking nearby rivers created lakes and ponds. The lake district formed by this cataclysm became known variously as Urabandai or Bandai-kōgen, and has become a popular tourist destination.