Nukabira Gensenkyo Onsen

Nukabira Gensenkyo Onsen is a peaceful hot spring in the Nukabira Onsen village in Kamishihoro Town, Hokkaido, set on the shores of Lake Nukabira, an artificial reservoir on the Tokachi River created by the Nukabira Dam in 1956 whose seasonal water level fluctuations reveal and conceal one of Hokkaido's most hauntingly beautiful man-made landscapes — the Taushubetsu River Bridge arches, a magnificent concrete arch viaduct built in 1937 for the Shihoro Line railway that emerges above the lake surface in winter and spring as the reservoir recedes, creating a ghostly ruin of perfect arches reflected in the still water before disappearing again beneath the surface as the lake refills, drawing photographers from across Japan to witness this seasonal drama of architecture and water. The surrounding landscape of Kamishihoro opens northward to the extraordinary highland wilderness of the Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan's largest national park, whose volcanic plateau, alpine meadows, and the dramatic summit of Taisetsuzan (Hokkaido's roof) preserve one of the finest examples of subalpine wilderness in the Japanese archipelago. The sodium-bicarbonate thermal spring waters of Nukabira, flowing in several distinctive varieties of different mineral compositions through the small cluster of quality ryokan and bath facilities along the lake shore, offer one of Hokkaido's most authentic and atmospheric traditional hot spring village experiences in a setting of extraordinary natural beauty and architectural melancholy.