Kagami Numa Lake has become a tourist destination attracting many tourists after photos of it were widely shared on social media and the BBC posted a clip recording the impressive beauty of the place.
Located near the top of Hachimantai in northeastern Japan, in a thick forest, Kagami Numa looks no different from other volcanic lakes in the region. On normal days, this place has beautiful blue water. However, within a week from May to early June, it will "transform" into a "giant blue eye" like a dragon's eye.
According to legend told by local people, Dragon Eye Lake is the place chosen by two dragons in love to meet.
According to legend, a young man named Hachiro-taro transformed into a dragon after drinking water from a mysterious lake on the mountain. Hachiro-taro later fell in love with Tatsuro - the dragon that was a girl before. Wanting to keep her beauty forever, Tatsuro prayed to goddess Okura Kannon, but instead of being beniated, she transformed into a dragon and was imprisoned forever in Tazawa Lake.
Every year, every fall, the Hachiro-taro dragon will fly to visit its lover in Tazawa Lake and stay through winter. The love of the two dragons prevented the lake water in this area from freezing.
Although the legend is like that, according to a scientific explanation, Dragon Eye Lake was formed due to pressure from the depth of the water, causing snow to only concentrate in the middle of the lake, creating a shape similar to the apple of the eye with a green water around it. When there is wind, the ice and snow cover the center and rotate, creating the feeling of a moving sea of ice and snow.
Every year, to see this fascinating natural phenomenon with their own eyes, many tourists from all over Japan and the world have come to Hachimantai Mountain at the end of spring.
