is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

in northern

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Its formal name is , but it is also called . At 4 meters below sea level, Hachirōgata is the lowest natural point in Japan. Hachirōgata was the second-largest lake in Japan after

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th ol ...

. Extensive reclamation began in 1957 for crop production, and Ōgata village was established on the reclaimed land on October 1, 1964. The remaining lake has an area of (18th largest in Japan). Some regard the reclamation as a mistake, since Japan began to be bothered with surplus

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

soon after the completion of the reclamation. Others lament the loss of the

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s. Fishery of shijimi shells (''

Corbicula japonica ''Corbicula japonica'' is an edible species of brackishwater clam, a bivalve mollusk in the family Cyrenidae, the basket clams. The common names of the species include ''Shijimi'' (after its Japanese name), Japanese basket clam, or Japanese bl ...

'') was a thriving industry, but it decreased as the lake became less brackish. In the winter, people fish wakasagi (''

Hypomesus nipponensis ''Hypomesus nipponensis'' (Japanese smelt, in Japanese: ''wakasagi'') is a commercial food fish native to the lakes and estuaries of northern Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan, Korea, and Sakhalin, Khabarovsk Krai, and Primorsky Krai, Ruassia. It has ...

'') by hollowing out the frozen surface. Today,

black bass Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

fishing attracts tourists even outside the prefecture, though some suspect that indigenous species are threatened by the invasion of the extraneous fish.

Legend

According to a legend, a man called Hachirō was transformed into a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

and chose the lake for his home after wandering a long time. Thus, the lake was named Hachirō-gata (''-gata'' means "lagoon"). Later, he was attracted to a woman who owned

Lake Tazawa is a caldera lake in the city of Semboku, Akita Prefecture, northern Japan. It is the deepest lake in Japan at . The area is a popular vacation area and several hot spring resorts can be found in the hills above the lake. Akita Prefecture ...

, another lake in Akita Prefecture, and moved to be with her. After that, Hachirōgata became increasingly shallower.

External links

World Lakes Database: Hachiro-gata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hachirogata Lakes of Japan Tourist attractions in Akita Prefecture Landforms of Akita Prefecture Extreme points of Japan Polders Lowest points