The blue pond
It’s about 40 minutes’ drive from Asahikawa Airport. The blue pond lies down in absolute silence in the remote forest in Biei town, Hokkaido. In winter, after the sunset, the pond and the larch and Japanese white birch trees coming out of its frozen, snow-covered surface are showered by surreal blue and white illumination.
The pond was built in 1989 by Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau as part of an erosion control system to stop mud flow into the town of Biei in case of an eruption of nearby Mount Tokachidake.
This mysterious landscape suddenly became famous among international travelers after this cobalt blue pond was featured in one of the background wallpapers for Apple computers.