- Winter fun at the annual Lake Saiko Ice Festival at Saiko Yacho no Mori Park from Jan. 25 to Feb. 16, 2020.
Nenba and the Saiko Healing Village
The Nenba district is home to Saiko Iyashi no Sato (“Healing Village”), a craft village with thatched-roof houses. Although the sight of Mount Fujiand other mountains make a lovely backdrop, the village alone is all kinds of beautiful. It’s just short walk to the westernmost tip of Saiko Lake, where you can get the best view of Fuji across the water.
If you cannot make it to Shirakawa-go,Saiko Iyashi no Sato might be the next best thing. Each farmhouse is devoted to a different craft, with workshops available. This is where handmade soba gets personal. In the winter, you can drink amazake(a traditional sweet drink made from fermented rice) over a sunken hearth.
Saiko Bat Cave and Jukai Nature Trail
The Saiko Bat Cave is the largest of the three caves near Lake Saiko. Its low-ceilinged tunnels and ropy lava floors make it feel otherworldly. Preservation efforts have been underway to restore the cave’s bat colony, leaving it closed every year from Dec. 1 to March 19.
At the cave’s information center, visitors can arrange to have a guided nature tour of Aokigahara Jukai, the “Sea of Trees.” Additionally, across the parking lot is the entrance to the Jukai Nature Trail.The other two caves are on the opposite side of the forest.
Wind and ice caves
Descending into Fugaku Wind Cave, you will move past a reservoir of illuminated ice. Icicles are found all year long—even in summer. During the Edo and Meiji periods, the cave was a natural refrigerator used to store eggs and silkworms.
Like its sister cave, the Narusawa Ice Cave was also a natural refrigerator. Ice was cut from the cave and sent to the shogun during the Edo period. Today, stacks of ice line its walls. The cave also features beautiful, narrow lava tunnels formed more than a century ago. It’s a tight squeeze, but you can walk the entire path (sideways).
Winter festival
Speaking of ice, the Lake Saiko Ice Festivalis an option if you’re planning a visit to Lake Saiko in winter. From late-January through mid-February at the Saiko Wild Bird Forest Park, and visitors can marvel at ice sculptures and 10-meter-high frost-covered trees known as juhyou.
At night, the ice is illuminated, and the festival also coincides with weekend fireworks at nearby Lake Kawaguchiko for an extra festive experience.
