is a caldera lake in Chitose,

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

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 a part of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park.

Geography

Lake Shikotsu is located in the south-west part of Hokkaidō. It has an average depth of and a maximum depth of , making it the second deepest lake in Japan, after

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 ...

. It is the 8th-largest lake by surface area in Japan and the second largest of Japan's caldera lakes, surpassed only by Lake Kussharo. It is surrounded by three volcanos:

Mount Eniwa is an active volcano located in Shikotsu-Toya National Park in Hokkaidō, Japan. It sits opposite Mount Tarumae and Mount Fuppushi on the shores of Lake Shikotsu, the caldera lake that spawned the volcanoes. Mount Eniwa is the tallest of t ...

to the north and

Mount Fuppushi is a dormant volcanoPaul Hunt, ''Hiking in Japan: An Adventurer's Guide to the Mountain Trails'', pg. 179 located in Shikotsu-Toya National Park in Hokkaidō, Japan. It sits adjacent to Mount Tarumae and opposite Mount Eniwa. Mount Fuppushi i ...

and

Mount Tarumae is located in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is located near both Tomakomai and Chitose towns and can be seen clearly from both. It is on the shores of Lake Shikotsu, a caldera lake. Tarumae is a 1,041 metre active and ...

to the south. The caldera formed in the

holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

when the land between the volcanos subsided. Due to its depth, the volume of Lake Shikotsu reaches 3/4 of the volume of

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 ...

, Japan's largest lake, despite of having only 1/9 of that lake's surface area. Due to the small surface area to depth ratio, the water temperature remains quite constant throughout the year, making it the northernmost ice-free lake in Japan. The Bifue, Okotanpe, Ninaru and Furenai rivers feed into it, and its main outlet is the Chitose River.

Climate

Geology

The

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

on which Lake Shikotsu sits was formed 40 to 50 thousand years ago. According to the Global Volcanism Program, the caldera was formed 31 to 34 thousand years ago by one of Hokkaidō's largest quaternary eruptions. The caldera consists mainly of

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

, and

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

. The volcanoes

, and

formed on the rim of this caldera.

Origin of the name

The name of Lake Shikotsu derives from the Ainu language ''shikot'', meaning big depression or hollow. To the Japanese, this sounded too much like , so they attempted to rename it ''engi'', but this name did not stick., , page 60

Use

The red salmon (locally called "chippu"), introduced from Lake Akan in 1895, has become a noted product of the area and chippu fishing is now a favourite pastime in summer. A visitor centre, various campgrounds and Onsen provide facilities for tourists coming to the area. Chitose is famous for its “ Indian Fish Wheel”, a device situated in the Chitose River to collect salmon returning to spawn at Lake Shikotsu.

Transport

National Highway 276 runs along the southern bank, connecting the lake with

Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 29 February 2012, it had an estimated population of 174,216, with 83,836 households ...

and

Date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner ** Group dating *Play date, a ...

. Highway 453 runs from the eastern and northern parts of the lake to

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

. City bus routes from Chitose lead to the lake.

Hokkaido Chuo Bus The is a Japanese bus company operating local and long-distance buses in Hokkaido prefecture, Japan. The company operates routes connecting cities within Hokkaido, as well as local city and chartered bus services. Overview Besides providing bu ...

connect Shikotsu-ko with Chitose Station and

New Chitose Airport is an international airport located south-southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By both traffic and land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō. It is adjacent to Chitose Air Ba ...

. In the summer, there is also a bus from Sapporo Terminal. The former bus service between the lake and Tomakomai has been discontinued.

Gallery

Shikotsu Caldera Relief Map, SRTM-1.jpg, Shikotsu Caldera

(top left)

(bottom right) Lake Shikotsu 2016 8 15.webm, Several scenes from around and on the lake, 2016 Mount Tarumae.jpg, Lake Shikotsu with Mount Tarumae in the background.

References

External links

World Lakes Database: Shikotsu-ko

Shikotsu-ko Visitor Centre
(in Japanese)
Shikotsu-ko Onsen-Ryokan Association
(in Japanese)

- Geological Survey of Japan {{Authority control Shikotsu Shikotsu Shikotsu Shikotsu-Tōya National Park Shikotsu Pleistocene calderas Holocene calderas