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Blue Pond Biei – a pond with incredibly beautiful water color
Blue Pond Biei is a small pond located on the left bank of the Bieigoa River on Japan’s second largest island, Hokkaido. It lies at the foot of Mount Tokachi southeast of the picturesque town of Biei. Just 2.5 km away in the northwest are hot springs Platinum.
The pond got its name for a reason - its water really has a juicy bright blue color, besides, 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 disaster and protect the area from the spread of mud mud that could descend from the volcano during subsequent eruptions, the Regional Development Bureau decided to build a dam. Construction of the dam was completed in June 1989. The water blocked by the concrete structure was delayed in the forest, as a result of which a pond 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 transmitted by word of mouth for the past few years. And today, 24 years after its emergence, it has become one of the most popular natural attractions in Japan, beloved by a huge number of tourists.
There have been many studies on the composition of the Blue Pond water, but the phenomenon of its unusual color has not yet been revealed. According to one hypothesis, this phenomenon is associated with the mixing of water coming from hot springs with river, 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 water renewal in the pond is continuous. Interestingly, watching the pond from different angles and at different times of the day you can see the game of a variety of shades of blue: from saturated blue to light turquoise. And rising pillars of dried birches and larchs, standing in the center of the reservoir, give the local landscape a special charm.
The most beautiful Blue Pond becomes with the arrival of the first cold, when a thin crust of ice appears on its surface, which then sprinkles with the first snow, making it look like a frame from some fantastic film about distant planets. Photography of 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 a resident of the city of Biei, photographer Kent Shiraishi, in late October, when the first snow swirled over the reservoir. National Geographic named this image “Blue Pond and the 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 can go to the railway station of the city of Biei, where you can take a shuttle bus, which takes you 15 minutes to a stop located just 10 minutes walk from the pond. For those who come by their own transport, there is a free parking lot nearby. Since the area of the pond is very small, a walk around it will take only about 30 minutes.
Source:udivitelno.com
The pond got its name for a reason - its water really has a juicy bright blue color, besides, 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 disaster and protect the area from the spread of mud mud that could descend from the volcano during subsequent eruptions, the Regional Development Bureau decided to build a dam. Construction of the dam was completed in June 1989. The water blocked by the concrete structure was delayed in the forest, as a result of which a pond 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 transmitted by word of mouth for the past few years. And today, 24 years after its emergence, it has become one of the most popular natural attractions in Japan, beloved by a huge number of tourists.
There have been many studies on the composition of the Blue Pond water, but the phenomenon of its unusual color has not yet been revealed. According to one hypothesis, this phenomenon is associated with the mixing of water coming from hot springs with river, 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 water renewal in the pond is continuous. Interestingly, watching the pond from different angles and at different times of the day you can see the game of a variety of shades of blue: from saturated blue to light turquoise. And rising pillars of dried birches and larchs, standing in the center of the reservoir, give the local landscape a special charm.
The most beautiful Blue Pond becomes with the arrival of the first cold, when a thin crust of ice appears on its surface, which then sprinkles with the first snow, making it look like a frame from some fantastic film about distant planets. Photography of 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 a resident of the city of Biei, photographer Kent Shiraishi, in late October, when the first snow swirled over the reservoir. National Geographic named this image “Blue Pond and the 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 can go to the railway station of the city of Biei, where you can take a shuttle bus, which takes you 15 minutes to a stop located just 10 minutes walk from the pond. For those who come by their own transport, there is a free parking lot nearby. Since the area of the pond is very small, a walk around it will take only about 30 minutes.
Source:udivitelno.com
