Stairs and passage towards the Narusawa Hyoketsu 20161025

The Narusawa Ice Cave (, ''Narusawa Hyōketsu'') is a

lava tube A lava tube, or pyroduct, is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave. Formation A lava tube is a type of lava ca ...

located in the

Aokigahara Aokigahara (), also known as the , is a forest on the northwestern flank of Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, thriving on of Igneous rock, hardened lava laid down by the last major Historic eruptions of Mount Fuji, eruption of Moun ...

forest, in the part that belongs to Narusawa Village, Yamanashi Prefecture,

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 ...

. It is one of the three larger lava tubes at the northern foot of

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 p ...

, the other two caves being

Fugaku Wind Cave Fugaku Wind Cave ( ja, 富岳風穴) is a lava tube at the northern foot of Mount Fuji, Japan. It is the largest of the several lava tubes that are found in the Aokigahara forest in Fujikawaguchiko Town, Yamanashi Prefecture. Aokigahara Forest ...

and

Lake Sai Bat Cave Lake Sai Bat Cave (, ''Saiko Kōmori Ana'') is the largest of the several lava tubes that are near Saiko Lake, Lake Sai, in the Aokigahara forest in the northern side of Mount Fuji, Japan. It is known as a cave where visitors can observe the bats ...

. All three were designated as

Natural Monuments of Japan Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

in 1929. The Narusawa Ice Cave is 156 meters long measured along the visitor route with two lobes, with the width of 1.5 to eleven meters and the height of one to 3.6 meters. The average temperature inside the cave is about 3°C.Narusawa Ice Cave
(in Japanese) ° The cave was long used as a natural refrigerator. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, ice cut in this cave was sent to the

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

and his entourage in Edo. During the early 1900s, ice made here had been used in the refrigerator before the electric refrigerator arrived.

Transportation

The Narusawa Cave is on

Japan National Route 139 National Route 139 is a national highway of Japan connecting Fuji, Shizuoka and Okutama, Tokyo in Japan, with a total length of 134.4 km (83.51 mi). References 139 139 may refer to: * 139 (number), an integer * AD 139, a year of ...

, Public bus transportation is available from

Kawaguchiko Station is a railway station on the Fujikyuko Line in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi, Japan, operated by Fuji Kyuko (Fujikyu). It is located at an altitude of . Lines Kawaguchiko Station forms the terminus of the privately operated Fujikyuko Line from . ...

of Fujikyūkō railway. By car, about 30 minutes from

Lake Kawaguchi is located in the town of Fujikawaguchiko in southern Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji, Japan. It is the second largest of the Fuji Five Lakes in terms of surface area, and is located at the lowest elevation. It is situated at an altitude of ...

exit of

Chūō Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by NEXCO Central. Naming Officially the expressway is designated as the Chūō Expressway Nishinomiya Route (from Takaido Interchange to Komaki Junction), the Chūō Expressway Nag ...

References

External links

Narusawa Ice Cave
{{coord, 35, 28, 29, N, 138, 39, 59, E, display=title Caves of Japan Tourist attractions in Yamanashi Prefecture Geography of Yamanashi Prefecture Lava tubes Natural monuments of Japan Mount Fuji

Transportation

See also

References

External links