TWO DREAM PONDS TO VISIT NOW
These two ponds just might be the most beautiful ponds in the world! Both can be found in Japan -- both off the beaten track.
Blue Pond, in Hokkaido, is like no other blue you’ve seen before. It looks like a dream set within a magical landscape.
The other pond has no name. Visit and you will feel like you’ve stepped into an impressionist painting.
Both ponds get their beauty both from nature and human artistry.
Both ponds are a photographer’s nirvana. It’s impossible to leave here without dozens of Instagram-worthy photos. But after you take your shots, it’s wonderful to just sit, quietly, and soak in the beauty of these remarkable little bodies of water.
Is it a painting or a pond? This little pond, in near Seki, Japan, looks like a living Claude Monet canvas.
Affectionately known as “Monet’s Pond,” this magical body of water sits deep in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture.
The water in this pond have few nutrients, rendering it extremely transparent.
Often seen as bright blue, its color changes as the sun shifts. Colorful koi fish and blooming water lilies shimmer through crystal clear water, like the impressionist’s paintings. Monet’s “Water Lilies” paintings come to mind, in particular.
Check out Nemichi Shrine, as well as the many Shinto shrines scattered nearby throughout the landscape. The shrines serves as places of worship for practitioners of traditional Shintism.
Check out thisawesome video of Monet's Pond. And check out our story Make Home a Work of Art, featuring the new book, “Everyday Monet.”
Blue Pond (青い池 Aoi-ike) is a man-made pond in Biei, Hokkaido, Japan. It was formed when the Biei River (美瑛川), was dammed after the 1988 eruption of Mount Tokachi, to protect the town of Biei from volcanic mudflows.
It all begins as the Shirahige Falls tumble over the cliff face into Biei River, carrying pulverized aluminum, sulfur, and lime with it into the pond.
The unique blue color of this pond comes from colloidal aluminium hydroxide in the water. The color shifts from season to season and changes with the weather.
In spring, the Blue Pond’s lingering frozen surface of the pond almost looks like white sand. As the snow melts, the blue water contrasts with patches of white ice.
In summer, the Blue Pond becomes more radiant. In Fall, the reflection of the fiery reds, oranges, and yellows of the surrounding forest on the pond’s surface is jaw-droppingly beautiful.
In winter, the pond is completely covered in pure white snow.
The pond’s enigmatic color has made it a popular spiritual place.
Silver birch and larch trees growing out of the pond add to its unique dreamlike appearance.
The Blue Pond offers superb vistas, adding to its popularity with photographers.
If you are seeking for gorgeous yet unexplored spots in Japan, these ponds should be definitely added to your bucket list!
Read more about Fresh Water all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
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- Photo: by Hidenobu Suzuki. Monet's Pond. Nemichi Shrine. Seki City. Gifu, Japan.
- Photo: by Hidenobu Suzuki. Monet's Pond. Nemichi Shrine. Seki City. Gifu, Japan.
- Still: by Nature Gifs. “Monet's Pond, Seki City, Japan.” Nemichi Shrine. Seki City. Gifu, Japan.
- Painting: by Claude Monet. “Water Lilies” series.
- Still: by Quang Hieu Dang. “Monet's Pond, Seki City, Japan.” Nemichi Shrine. Seki City. Gifu, Japan.
- Photo: by johnlsl. “Blue pond at Biei. Hokkaido, Japan.”
- Photo: by hendrikMINTARNO. “青い池 美瑛.” Blue Pond. Biei. Hokkaido, Japan.
- Photo: by Syuzo Tsushima. “Blue Pond.” Blue Pond. Biei. Hokkaido, Japan.
- Photo: by Bong Grit. “Hokkaido.” Blue Pond. Biei. Hokkaido, Japan.
- Photo: by Gilad Rom. “Blue Pond Biei.” Biei. Hokkaido, Japan.
- Photo: by Reginald Pentinio. “Aoiike (Blue Pond).” Blue Pond. Biei. Hokkaido, Japan.
- Photo: by Georgios Kaleadis. “Japan Hokkaido.” Blue Pond. Biei. Hokkaido, Japan.
- Photo: by Hidenobu Suzuki. Monet's Pond. Nemichi Shrine. Seki City. Gifu, Japan.