Absolute blue pond is located on the island Hokkaido, which is the second largest in Japan and is located near the famous picturesque city Biei. Name "Blue Pond" (Blue Pond) appeared for a reason, the pond is really bright blue, but where does the lake have such an amazing color?

The island of Hokkaido is interesting in itself, since 10% of the island's area is occupied by more than 20 national parks. Blue Lake can be found 2.5 kilometers northwest of Platinum Hot Springs at the foot of Mount Tokachi, the pond is located on the left bank of the Bieigoa River, southeast of Biei City in Hokkaido. The reservoir got its name due to its juicy, blue tint, and wooden posts sticking out of the lake from shrunken trees give it a certain charm.

The "Blue Pond" pond was formed not so long ago, in 1989, after the eruption of the Tokachi volcano, then a dam was built to protect against volcanic flows from the mountains, and a pond was formed in it. Why it became so blue and beautiful is still not exactly known, but there are suggestions that this is due to the fact that the water in the pond comes from hot springs and is saturated with aluminum salts, which in reflected sunlight make the water turquoise blue. The water in the pond is constantly updated, at different times of the day and from different angles it acquires different shades of blue, which makes it even more mysterious and beautiful.

The most beautiful pond becomes with the appearance of a thin crust of ice on it and the first snow, making it look like a landscape of a distant planet. This place is quite famous, but it gained the greatest popularity after the release of the Mountain Lion operating system from Apple, in which photos of the Blue Pond were posted. Now, in order to see this miracle of nature with their own eyes, crowds of tourists and photographers come here.

Biei Blue Pond(Blue Pond Biei) is a small body of water located on the left bank of the Bieigoa River on Japan's second largest island, Hokkaido. It lies at the very foot of Mount Tokachi, southeast of the picturesque town of Biei. Just 2.5 km away in the northwest are the Platinum hot springs.
The pond got its name for a reason - its water really has a juicy bright blue color, moreover, it has the ability to change its shade under certain conditions.

The history of the formation of the Blue Pond began in December 1988, immediately after the eruption of the Tokachi volcano. Then, in order to prevent a catastrophe and protect the area from the spread of mudflows that could descend from the volcano during subsequent eruptions, the regional development bureau decided to build a dam. The construction of the dam was completed in June 1989. The water blocked by the concrete structure lingered in the forest, as a result of which a reservoir with an incredibly beautiful color of water was formed there.

Gradually, the Blue Pond became more and more famous, the fame of it was actively passed from mouth to mouth for several recent years. And today, 24 years after its appearance, it has become one of the most popular natural attractions in Japan, chosen by a huge number of tourists.

Many studies have been carried out on the composition of the Blue Pond water, but the phenomenon of its unusual color has not yet been discovered. According to one of the assumptions, this phenomenon is associated with the mixing of water coming from hot springs with river water saturated with aluminum hydroxide. As a result, a kind of "cocktail" is formed, reflecting sunlight in the same way as the Earth's atmosphere does, which gives the reservoir a turquoise-blue color. The process of renewal of water in the pond occurs continuously. It is interesting that when observing the reservoir from different angles and at different times of the day, you can see the play of a wide variety of shades of blue: from rich blue to light turquoise. And the pillars of dried birches and larches striving upwards, standing in the center of the reservoir, give the local landscape a special charm.

The Blue Pond becomes most beautiful with the arrival of the first cold weather, when a thin crust of ice appears on its surface, which is then covered with the first snow, making it look like a frame from some fantasy movie about distant planets. A photograph of just such a landscape gave the reservoir global popularity. It happened a year ago, in 2012, when Apple included a photo of the Blue Pond in the new OS X Mountain Lion operating system. This shot was taken by Biei resident photographer Kent Shiraishi at the end of October, when the first snow swirled over the pond. National Geographic named this image "Blue Pond and First Snow". Today, many tourists and photographers come here to see this miracle with their own eyes and capture it on their cameras.

To get to the Blue Pond, you first need to get to Tokyo, from where you go to railway station Biei City, where you can take a shuttle bus that takes 15 minutes to a stop located just a 10-minute walk from the pond. For those who come with their own transport, there is a free car park nearby. Since the area of ​​the pond is quite small, a walk around it will only take about 30 minutes.

Despite the fact that the island of Hokkaido occupies only the second largest area in the Japanese archipelago, it leads in terms of the presence of nature reserves, national parks and landscape rising sun. Blue Pond - The Blue Pond in Hokkaido, Japan, along with Mount Fujisan, Shiraito Waterfall, Married Rocks and the fast-moving Naruta Whirlpool, is one of the top 10 popular tourist destinations in the country.

The Blue Pond on the island of Hokkaido in Japan cannot be called an independent, separate object. natural origin. The reservoir itself and its surroundings are located in the Daisetsuzan National Park, which includes the active Tokachi stratovolcano with the Blue Pond spread at the foot, the Shikaribetsu volcano group with the majestic peak of Mount Ishikari and the Platinum thermal springs.

History of the Blue Pond in Hokkaido

The Blue Pond is a man-made reservoir. After the Tokachi volcano eruption in 1988, the administration of Kamikawa County, fearing mudflows that could occur during repeated eruptions, decided to build a dam to block the hollow through which mudflows could descend. The construction was completed in 1989, and even before the construction of the upper pool, the depression blocked by a concrete cofferdam began to fill with water. Last eruption stratovolcano Tokati, which occurred in 2004, showed that the dam reliably protects low-lying areas from mud flows formed from melting snow on the top of the volcano.

Since the early years of the dam locals drew attention to the unusual color of the water, changing under the influence weather conditions. Blue Pond's surface reflects differently from different vantage points. The color scheme is characterized by variability - from rich bright blue to faded turquoise.

special charm blue lake give uncut birches and larches flooded at the root, which are associated with fingers raised up, reproachfully threatening to avenge humanity for its barbaric attitude towards nature. Covered in the winter months with a thin ice crust, the Blue Pond looks even more mysterious and attractive.

Today, this body of water, called Pond Biei in some tourist brochures, attracts many tourists. In its appearance, flooded trees and surrounded by mountains, it is somewhat similar to Lake Kaindy in the Kungei Alatau gorge, Kazakhstan. However, the shade of the surface and the variability of the color of the water of the Japanese pond are unique, and on our planet there is hardly a similar natural source that surpasses this man-made reservoir in its uniqueness.

Blue Pond's popularity and attendance skyrocketed after US IT giant Apple Inc used a summer landscape photo of the pond taken by Biei resident Kent Shiraish as one of the splash screens for its new OS X operating system in 2012. mountain lion. Since 2012, the program of excursions around National park Daisetsuzan includes:

• visiting the Platinum thermal springs;
• for lovers of extreme sports - climbing the slopes of the Tokati volcano along 4 hiking trails;
• visiting the picturesque village of Biei-cho;
• observation of black Japanese bears living in natural conditions.

Today, photographing landscapes and the coast of the Blue Pond is in demand not only among organized tourists, but also among "wild" travelers.

Unusual water color Blue Pond Biei

Despite numerous studies, the answer to the question about the reasons for the blue color of the Blue Pond Biei water and its variability has not been found. According to one hypothesis, nearby thermal springs flow into the Blue Pond and carry supersaturated aluminum hydroxide with them. Mixing hot, highly mineralized water with fresh water forms a kind of natural "cocktail" that transforms the incident sun's rays in a similar way to the earth's atmosphere. Light with a spectrum in the short, blue-blue range is reflected, while the sun's rays with a longer wavelength are absorbed by the waters of the pond. If this hypothesis explains the variability of the color gamut when the weather changes, then the question of changing the color of the water surface when observed from different angles of view remains open.

Some geographers and geologists explain the high safety of flooded trees by a significant level of water mineralization created by warm springs gushing from the bottom. For more than 25 years, the trees standing in the waters of the reservoir have practically not changed their appearance - the branches have not broken off, the bark has not turned black, and it seems that the Blue Pond in Hokkaido (Japan) was formed several years ago. As a comparative example, they cite the flooded sections of the Gorky and Rybinsk reservoirs, where fresh water and the fungi, mold spores and microorganisms contained in it flooded forest areas.

The Biei Blue Pond is comfortably located (or rather, it was placed almost artificially, but more on that below) at the foot of Mount Tokachi, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
As you may have guessed, the reservoir owes its unambiguous name to the unreal blue color of its water. Moreover, the color changes from juicy bright blue to pale turquoise. It depends on the time of day or the angle chosen by the viewer.

The color of Biei Pond is still a subject of debate among scholars. But his secret is still unsolved. There are some assumptions about this. One of them boils down to the fact that the water of geothermal sources, mixing with river rich aluminum hydroxide, form a mixture that can reflect light much like the atmosphere of our planet. Accordingly, the pond acquires its legendary and unique color.

This is how the Blue Pond of Biei is born

Biei Pond was formed relatively recently. The history of its origin goes back only to 1988, when the local government decided to build a dam to protect the population from the mudflows that accompany the eruptions. In 1989 the dam was built. As a result, the water flowing down from the mountains began to fill the nearby forest. This has made an even greater contribution to the charm of the pond: now the tree trunks rush into the sky directly from the water.

Biei Blue Pond - winter view

The combination of incredible blue color with mysterious trees naturally began to attract not only local tourists, but also travelers from all over the world to these places. Now such an extraordinary attraction has become one of business cards Japan. Even a fruit company (like Apple) used the photo of Biei Pond in their OS X Mountain Lion operating system.

The pond is most attractive with the onset of cold weather, when thin ice begins to cover its surface. And if it also snows, then the pond acquires a special charm.

Biei pond in winter

If you want to see the Biei Blue Pond, first get to Tokyo, then take the train to Biei City, and finally take the bus to the required stop. Then 10 minutes walk to the pond.

The pond is quite compact, so a walk around it will take no more than half an hour.

Blue Pond Biei photo

Blue Pond is located on the left bank of the Bieigoa River, southeast of Biei City in Hokkaido, Japan. This amazing body of water can be found 2.5 kilometers northwest of the Platinum hot springs at the foot of Mount Tokachi. The pond got its name because of the bright blue hue of the water, with many wooden poles that can be seen above the water surface.

The blue color of a body of water has been fully understood, but is attributed to the presence of aluminum hydroxide in the water, which reflects shorter wavelengths of blue in the same way that Earth's atmosphere does. The color of the reservoir also changes depending on the angle from which you look at it, and even depending on the time of day.

The picturesque town of Biei has been a popular tourist destination for years, but Blue Pond has become a global landmark after Apple put a photo of it on its new Mountain Lion operating system.