Goshikinuma Travel Guide

Located in Bandai-Asahi National Park, this collection of beautiful ponds and lakes should be high up on the to-do list of every nature-loving visitor to Fukushima. Known as the “Five Colored Marshes,” this expansive patch of wetland is actually relatively new: a result of the eruption Mt. Bandai in 1888, which carved out a beautiful new landscape in the surrounding area.

That also explains the gorgeous colors of the lakes here, filled with minerals since the days of their volcanic creation: deep blues and subtle red hues, with no two lakes quite the same. The most famous are probably Runrinuma — which has the clearest and bluest appearance of all — and Bentennuma — a green and blue lake named after the goddess of wisdom.

All in all, you’ll walk past 30 of these ponds and lakes in a one-hour hike. With one new spot to view every two minutes, that’s excellent value for your time! It’s also quite a pleasant and accessible walk, with no steep inclines or rough sections. It runs from the Urabandai Visitor Center and the area of Yudairayama.

If you catch these lakes on a nice, sunny day, it will likely be among the most beautiful days out you’ve ever had in Japan.