[Winter Lake Akan] Akan Crystal Road: A world of frost stretching for 50 kilometers. Hokkaido Lab ~A Hokkaido travel guide to enjoy gourmet food, nature, and culture~

[Winter Lake Akan] Akan Crystal Road: A world of its own with 50 kilometers of frost-covered trees.

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: Last updated: September 4, 2018

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Pastures and fields become a paradise of frost-covered land.

Frost-covered trees on the Akan Crystal Road Lake Akan, a well-known tourist destination in eastern Hokkaido, attracts many tourists even in winter, thanks to its hot springs and lakeside events.

But did you know that on the way to Lake Akan, you can enjoy some truly special scenery unique to the harsh winter?

A world where the land is covered in snow and the trees shine white with frost. It's called the Akan Crystal Road. The person who named it, "Eastern Hokkaido Expert," will introduce the charms of the Akan Crystal Road.

Endless stretches of frost

"Rime ice" is a natural phenomenon where ice forms on trees in sub-zero temperatures. For people on Honshu, rime ice is a very rare sight. Even a glimpse would surely be breathtaking. But what if that rime ice continued for miles and miles...? You'd probably be in disbelief, wouldn't you?

However, the Akan Crystal Road is a place where you can see such sights on a regular basis.

Everything you see here is ice. It's a frozen world, just like the icy world in the movie "Frozen."

You can imagine the trees being beautifully covered in frost, but who would have thought that ice would cling to absolutely everything, even tiny blades of grass and power lines, cleverly obscuring any imperfections and making everything shine like crystal?

The road starts from Lake Akan.

Lake Akan and rime ice The Akan Crystal Road starts at Lake Akan. Lake Akan is known for its "frost flowers," ice crystals that form on the lake's surface during the coldest months. For more details...
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Just a few minutes from this crystal-clear lake, you'll come to a place called Takimibashi, where the water from Lake Akan (or more precisely, the water beneath the frozen surface) flows down as a waterfall. There's also a parking lot, so you can easily stop there.

Frost on Takimi Bridge The mist from the waterfall freezes beautifully, and frost forms here almost every day, except on days that are unusually warm for the locals, like when the temperature drops to minus 5 degrees Celsius.

This is a fantastic spot to look down on and up at the frost-covered trees. First, let's give thanks to the water spirits of Lake Akan.

The road of frost continues.

Scenery of the frost-covered road
Akan Lake - Frost-covered Road After driving for five minutes from Takimi Bridge, you'll notice a row of trees covered in frost on both sides of the road. "Wait, how far does it go?" You probably wouldn't dream that it would take you more than 30 minutes to find the answer to that question.

There are parking areas here and there, so you can park and then head into the woods, where the Akan River flows vigorously.

Akan River and rime ice While most rivers in eastern Hokkaido appear almost completely frozen over from above, the Akan River flows with the same force it had when it emerged from the caldera. This is likely why it possesses enough energy to present the surrounding forests with a beautiful frost-covered landscape. It's the same kind of power that permeates the winter landscape of Lake Akan, the miraculous lake that nurtures marimo algae.

Pastures and fields become a paradise of frost-covered land.

View of the Frost-Covered Ginza 1 After driving for a while, human settlements appear, and soon pastures stretch out before you. Pastures, wilderness—this landscape is a paradise of frost-covered trees.

The haphazard plants and trees in the wilderness are all covered in a veil of ice, glittering brightly. The cows gaze upon them, their breath freezing into white mist.

Frost on Lake Akan As the powerful morning sun soon shines across the entire field, it transforms into an even more crystal-clear, otherworldly landscape. The desolate wilderness that you might not even glance at in the summer is completely transformed at this time of year. Even if you're in a hurry, you can't help but stop your car and admire this wonderful world.

No matter how beautiful a city may be with its glittering neon lights and illuminations, that sparkle can only be truly appreciated at night. But here, it's presented as a dreamlike reality from morning until noon—not a daydream, but a dream world that truly exists.

Mountains covered in frost and snow Along the stream, instead of cherry blossom trees, there's a row of trees covered in frost, which flutter down against the blue sky as the wind plays its tricks, shining in the sunlight. Every time I go to this place, I'm reminded of the sparkling scene in "Frozen" where Olaf first appears, surrounded by trees covered in frost. It's exactly the same.

Hoarfrost in the distance After admiring the frost-covered trees up close for quite some time, your eyes then turn to the frost-covered trees in the distance. They present a winter landscape as beautiful as a postcard. It takes more than 30 minutes to get here from Lake Akan. Just when you start to get a little tired of seeing frost-covered trees all the time, you cross the frost-covered Akan River and reach the climax of the trip.

Actually, it's a shame I don't have a photo of the climax, but as I was driving through the frost-covered fields, something white suddenly streaked across the blue sky directly in front of the windshield. "Huh?" I thought, and before I knew it... it was a red-crowned crane that flew across my field of vision.

The moment always passes by before I can believe it, and I always miss the photo opportunity, but when I witness the climax of the frost-covered road, with red-crowned cranes flying low over a proper national highway as if nothing happened, I always think, "How elegant this place is."

Everyday life with red-crowned cranes >This is also an everyday scene.

Winter is cold. The cold and sadness can linger, both physically and mentally, but when I'm driving along this frost-covered road, my mood becomes crystal clear. Light and shadow, yin and yang, joy and anger, sorrow and pleasure—they are all two sides of the same coin, and it's up to me to shine. Every time I gaze upon the way the grass, trees, and even the haphazardly growing groves all sparkle, I feel incredibly energized.

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