1 / 8Lake Tazawa seen from the vicinity of the Gozanoishi ShrinePhoto: 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0
Tap a photo to see it large. 8 photographs, every one credited.
Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
Japan’s deepest lake — sapphire blue with a golden maiden statue at the waterline. The guided day with Kakunodate needs a call of about 11 hours, and no 2026 call is that long. By train it is about two hours each way (Komachi to Tazawako, ¥3,450, then a bus).
- This needs 9 hr, so it only fits an 11-hour call or longer. On a shorter one it will cost you the ship, not the view.
- Book it before you sail. There is no tour desk at the pier and walk-up places are not a thing here.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Why Lake Tazawa loop is famous
At 423 metres, Tazawa is the deepest lake in Japan and never freezes. The gilded statue of Tatsuko on its shore is a local legend: a woman who drank from a spring seeking eternal beauty and became a dragon. The water turned acidic in the 1940s from a hydroelectric diversion and the fish have not fully returned.
Lake Tazawa loop and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Book it with a guide
Booked before you sail — there is no tour desk at the pier. Booking through this link supports the site.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~1h at the portSelion Tower
A free observation deck at 100 metres, a 10-minute walk from the berth — the Sea of Japan one way, snow mountains the other.
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See · ~3.5h in the cityKanto Festival Center
Forty-six lanterns on a twelve-metre, fifty-kilogram pole, balanced on a forehead — try hoisting a practice pole yourself and respect the festival forever.
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Eat · ~3hKiritanpo hotpot
Toasted rice sticks simmered in chicken broth with burdock and maitake — Akita’s soul dish, born in hunters’ huts.
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