Map of Japan showing HachimantaiEvery year between late May and June, a phenomenon occurs in a small body of water close to Mount Hachimantai in the Iwate Prefecture in northern Honshū, Japan’s largest island.

At the Kagami Pond, as its covering of ice and snow begins to melt due to warmer temperatures, a ring of open water is formed around the edges creating a white disc in the middle. Following this, a pool of blue water gathers in the centre of the white disc making the entire pond look somewhat like a dragon’s eye! When this is viewed from above it looks quite spectacular.

On a warm June 7th 2020, the ‘eye’ opened up again, thrilling local visitors and tourists that had come to see this annual event. Many had parked in the allocated areas at the rest house near the summit of Mt. Hachimantai and hiked the 20 minute trail to experience the Dragon Eye for themselves.

The Kagami Pond is approximately 50 metres in diameter and has very calm and reflective water, much like a mirror, hence the name Kagami (鏡) meaning mirror in Japanese. The surrounding forests and scenery are quite beautiful to behold and it’s a very popular area for Japanese tourists to visit.

We would love to visit the Hachimantai Dragon Eye one year as it opens up to gaze upon humanity once again!

You can read the original report on The Asahi Shimbun website where they have an excellent video and photos: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13446412