Where to go this weekend? Quiet leisure time at Lake Shirakaba.

In the melting summer of 2022, I'm not in the mood for floating seas or stoic mountains. What will surely suit such a mood is a lake. Lake Shirakaba, located in Chino, Nagano, where the "Lake Resort" is conceived, is not a place where you go to do something with a purpose. It is simply a place to drift. The lake taught me how to spend leisure time, not leisure time, by chewing time and savoring space.

Photo_Kengo Inuzuka

Edit_Yuka Koga

Walking along the lakeside.

Lake Shirakaba is an artificial lake located at an altitude of 1,400 meters. It is 4 km in circumference and just the right size for running. Let's take a walk around it for starters. As the name suggests, a forest path is surrounded by white birch trees. Surrounded by coniferous trees and high mountains, it is quietly cool even in summer. Sitting on the overhanging wooden planks, you can enjoy soaking your feet in the clear water of Shirakaba Lake and even see the bottom of the lake.

Older local couples are resting on benches and pavilions placed here and there. Their backs are a lesson in how to spend your time here.

As you walk along, you will see a natural spring called "Yatsomi no Shizuku. The water comes from melting snow that has been melted over the past 4 to 50 years, gushing up from 200 meters below the ground. The water is so deep in the ground that it cools your hands even in summer. Now it's time to rehydrate. The ultra-soft spring water soaks into your body.