is a

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estu ...

lake located between Tottori and

Shimane is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

prefectures in

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 ...

. The lake is enclosed by the

Shimane Peninsula is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

to the north and Yumigahama Peninsula to the east. It is the fifth largest lake in surface area in Japan. Nakaumi connects

Lake Shinji is a lake in the northeast area of the Shimane Prefecture in Japan. The lake is the seventh largest in Japan, with a circumference of . It is enclosed by the Shimane Peninsula to the north, and the Izumo and Matsue plains to the west and east r ...

(宍道湖 ''Shinji-ko'') and the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

, and is surrounded by the municipalities

Matsue is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 202,008 (February 1, 2021) following the merger with Higashiizumo from Yatsuka District. Matsue is located ...

Yasugi is a city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. As of March 1, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 38,875 and a population density of 92 persons per km². The total area is . History The ruins of Gassantoda Castle are in Yasugi. Acco ...

Yonago is a city in western Tottori Prefecture, Japan, facing the Sea of Japan and making up part of the boundary of Lake Nakaumi. It is adjacent to Shimane Prefecture and across the lake from its capital of Matsue. It is the prefecture's second larges ...

and

Sakaiminato is a city in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. In 2016, it had an estimated population of 33,888. History An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Sakai as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. Sakaiminato was fou ...

. There are two large islands in the lake,

Daikon Island is a volcanic island in the middle of Sakumia, a brackish volcanic between Tottori and Shimane prefectures in Japan. Daikon Island is administered as part of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture. Daikon-jima takes its name from the daikon, the large, w ...

(大根島 ''Daikonjima'', literally "

radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, being mostly eaten raw ...

island") and Eshima Island (江島 ''Eshima'', "inlet island"). There are bridges (like the

Eshima Ohashi Bridge The is a rigid-frame bridge in Japan that connects Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, and Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, over Nakaumi is a brackish lake located between Tottori and Shimane prefectures in Japan. The lake is enclosed by the Shi ...

) and roads that connect the east and west shores of the lake through the two islands. Nakaumi is a brackish lake because it is connected to the Sea of Japan by a short channel, the

Sakai Channel is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...

, and lies so low that the tides reverse the flow of the rivers all the way into Lake Shinji. Nakaumi (中海) literally means "middle sea". Even though Nakaumi is a lake, it was likely named a sea because of its saline water and proximity to the actual sea. In

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, the lake is usually referred to simply as Nakaumi, not as Nakaumi-ko (Lake Nakaumi).

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Japan Ramsar sites in Japan Landforms of Tottori Prefecture Landforms of Shimane Prefecture

See also

References