Lake Suwa

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Lake Suwa
諏訪湖
Lake Suwa  諏訪湖 - Lake Suwa, Nagano prefecture
Lake Suwa, Nagano prefecture
Coordinates 36°02′54″N, 138°05′03″ECoordinates: 36°02′54″N, 138°05′03″E
Primary inflows 31 small rivers
Primary outflows Tenryū river
Basin countries Japan
Surface area 13.3 km²
Average depth 4.7 m
Max. depth 7.2 m
Shore length1 15.9 km
Surface elevation 759 m
Settlements Okaya
Suwa
Shimosuwa
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Suwa (諏訪湖 Suwa-ko?) is a lake in the central part of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It ranks 24th in Japan in surface area.

Lake Suwa is the site of o-miwatari, an interesting natural phenomenon. The lake has a natural hot spring under the surface, so that when the top freezes in the winter, the lower waters are still warm and circulating. This results in pressure ridges forming in the ice, reaching heights of 30 cm or more. Local belief holds that the pressure ridges are formed by the gods crossing the lake, travelling between the various buildings of Suwa Taisha.

[edit] In fiction

In the movie Kagemusha by Akira Kurosawa, Lord Shingen is buried in the lake.

In the factual novel Autobiography of a Geisha, Sayo Masuda tries to drown herself in the lake but is frightened of a dragon she believes exists within it.

[edit] See also