Lake Suwa
Lake Suwa | |
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1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. |
Lake Suwa (諏訪湖, Suwa-ko) is a lake in the Kiso Mountains, in the central region of Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Geography
The lake is the source of the
Omiwatari
Lake Suwa is the site of a natural phenomenon known as the "God's Crossing" (御神渡り, o-miwatari), large cracks that form in the winter across the surface of the frozen lake. A vertical temperature gradient results in ice pressure ridges forming in the surface ice, reaching heights of 30 centimetres (1 ft) or more.[1]
Local
The lake has a natural hot spring under its surface. Recreational development in the 1950s resulted in increased output from this underwater geyser. Since 1945, complete ice cover is considered to be achieved when the entire surface is frozen except for the opening in the ice for the geyser.[4]
As a shallow lake, Lake Suwa is highly sensitive to climatic variation. Recent studies have shown that Suwa's ice-free years correlate to increasing
Cultural history
Lake Suwa hosts two major shrines, the Tenaga Jinja and the Suwa Jinja. Major festivals include the Onbashira and Setsubun.
Epson, a global technology company, was founded and is headquartered in Suwa.
In popular culture
In the movie Kagemusha by Akira Kurosawa, the corpse of Lord Shingen is dropped into the lake. This film dramatizes the events leading up to the 1575 Battle of Nagashino.
- In the anime Rurouni Kenshin, legend holds of an "Elixir of Immortality" that can be found somewhere in or around Lake Suwa. The main characters search for the elixir in the final season of the series and are followed by a band of evil German knights, seeking it for world domination.
- The anime Blood-C takes place in a rural town located on the shore of the lake.
- Suwako Moriya from the Touhou Project is named after the lake.
- The lake also became a popular tourist attraction because of the movie Your Name. The fictional town of Itomori where Mitsuha lives was visually inspired by a blend of locations. The mountainous landscape draws from the Hida region in Gifu Prefecture, while the central crater lake is heavily inspired by the appearance of Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture.
See also
- Onbashira
- List of lakes in Japan
References
- . Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Takahiro, Nogami. "Encyclopedia of Shinto - Home : Shrines and Cultic Practices : Suwa Shinkō". eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ PMID 27113125. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- . Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Bell, Jillian (2016-04-27). "Industrial Revolution strongly tied to earlier thaws, later freezes: study". CBC News. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
- .
- ^ "Lake Suwa in Shinano Province (Shinshū Suwako), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) ca. 1830–32". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ISBN 0-231-12951-3.)
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