is located in the village of

Yamanakako is a village located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 5,826 in 2401 households, and a population density of . The total area of the village is . Geography Yamanakako is located in the far southea ...

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

near

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

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 n ...

. Lake Yamanaka is the largest of the Fuji Five Lakes in surface area and the highest in elevation. It is the third highest lake in Japan, with a mean surface altitude of . It is also the shallowest of the Fuji Five Lakes, with a maximum water depth of . It was formed by lava flows from an ancient eruption of Mount Fuji. It is drained by the

Sagami River The is a river in Kanagawa and Yamanashi Prefectures on the island of Honshū, Japan. The upper reaches of the river in Yamanashi prefecture are also sometimes known as the , and the portion near the river mouth as the . The river overall was ...

and is the only of the Fuji Five Lakes to have a natural outflow.

Carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

, dace and

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''A ...

were introduced to the lake in the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, although early efforts to introduce

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a ...

were not successful. In more recent years, introduced exotics such as

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 o ...

and

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds an ...

have increasingly displaced native species. In terms of plant life, a variety of

marimo Marimo (also known as Cladophora ball, moss ball, or lake ball) is a rare growth form of ''Aegagropila linnaei'' (a species of filamentous green algae) in which the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance. The species can be ...

was discovered in the lake in 1956. The lake is a popular recreational site for boating, fishing, water-skiing,

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

sightseeing Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism m ...

and swimming. If the wind comes from the west, the lake provides a smooth lift for

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'p ...

at Mount Myōjinyama. There are also small cabins and sites available for camping. The lake is within the borders of the (

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is a national park in Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa Prefectures, and western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It consists of Mount Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park covers . Rat ...

). In 2013 the lake was added to the

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

as part of the Fujisan Cultural Site.

Access

Early in the morning, when traffic is light on the Tōmei and Chūō Expressways, traveling between Tokyo and Lake Yamanaka takes an hour. The traffic becomes heavy later in the day, and the trip takes correspondingly longer. Japan National Route 138 and

Japan National Route 413 National Route 413 is a national highway of Japan connecting Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi and Sagamihara, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 723,470, with 334,812 households, and a popul ...

run along the shores of the lake. Bus services are available from

Fujisan Station is a railway station on the Fujikyuko Line in the city of Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Fuji Kyuko (Fujikyu). The station is located at an altitude of . This is one of the gateway stations to Mount F ...

(

Fujikyuko Line The is a Japanese private railway line in Yamanashi Prefecture, between Ōtsuki Station in Ōtsuki and Kawaguchiko Station in Fujikawaguchiko. It is the only railway line operated by Fuji Kyuko. The railway line officially consists of the a ...

), JR

Gotemba Station is a railway station on the Gotemba Line in the eastern part of the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It is one of the gateway stations to Mount Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes (including L ...

(JR Gotemba Line), and JR

Mishima Station is a railway station in the city of Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan, operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It is also a union station with the Izuhakone Railway. The station was also a freight terminal of the Japan Freight Railw ...

(JR

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

). Highway bus services are also available from

Shinjuku Station is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busiest ...

(

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

References

Notes

External links

*http://yamanakako.info/, more pictures of the lake. *http://watchizu.gsi.go.jp/watchizu.aspx?b=35260&l=1385230, map of the lake *https://web.archive.org/web/20150617024615/http://transportation.fujikyu.co.jp/english/gettinghere/01.html, Expressway Bus timetable from/to Shinjuku Station (Fujikyu Bus) {{Authority control

Yamanaka Yamanaka (written: ; lit: "middle of mountain") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Akira Joe Yamanaka, singer for the Flower Travellin' Band * Akiko Yamanaka (born 1945), Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic ...

Tourist attractions in Yamanashi Prefecture Landforms of Yamanashi Prefecture Mount Fuji World Heritage Sites in Japan Yamanakako, Yamanashi

Access

See also

References

Notes

External links