Lake Toya-ko洞爺湖（とうやこ）

A popular lakeside spa resort. Enjoy watching the spirals of white smoke emanating from the Showa Shinzan volcano.

Lake Toya-ko, which is situated in the southwestern part of Hokkaido, belongs to Shikotsu-Toya National Park. This wide lake lies 200 to 500 meters below the outer rim of the crater. The active volcano that stands proudly near the lake with white smoke rising above it is Mt. Showa Shinzan. The volcano was elevated when the ground cracked during a huge earthquake in 1943. The Toya-ko-onsen Hot Spring, which stretches out along the 43-kilometer-diameter crater lake, is one of the best spa resorts in Hokkaido.

Lake Toya-ko is an ice-free lake. It never freezes, even in winter when the temperature falls quite drastically. The beauty of this ice-free lake can therefore be admired anytime during the year. There is a little island called Nakano-shima in the middle of the lake, and on it is the Toya-ko Lake Forest Museum, which is a part of the sightseeing boat route. Trout and smelt fishing are very popular sports in and around the lake.

There are many places of interest around Lake Toya-ko including the Volcano Science Museum where they show visual images of the eruption that occurred in 1977, complete with a special sound system. There are also fully facilitated camping sites located around the lake.