Japan - Lake Haruna in the mist

by Orange Frame - Remco Bosshard

151 days in 2025 I was in Japan for work. But this was a unique opportunity to see more of the country than the average tourist.

A Sunday morning in November, on my way to Lake Haruna, the caldera of a dormant volcano. It was supposed to be a beautiful vista, but the fog was persistent. Winding narrow roads led me uphill to emerge at the beautiful lake. It was wet, drizzling and misty, there was a tense silence, but the atmosphere was magical. The lake was empty except for one small boat with two fishermen. One click with the camera was enough to capture this special atmosphere.

The formation of the Haruna volcano began more than 300,000 years ago and the last known eruption took place in 550 AD. The volcano has a caldera at the summit containing the symmetrical cinder cone of the Haruna-Fuji volcano, along with a crater lake, Lake Haruna, on the western side. To the west of the lake is Kamonga volcano, the highest of the many peaks of Haruna volcano with a height of 1449 metres.

Inside the Haruna caldera with the cinder cone of Haruna-Fuji and Lake Haruna.

The lake and the area east of it, as well as its southern and south-western slopes, lie within the boundaries of the city of Takasaki. The boundary of the town of Shibukawa (to the east) almost reaches Lake Haruna. Both the village of Shinto and the town of Yoshioka lie on the southeastern slopes of the mountain. The northern and north-western slopes lie within the town of Higashi Agatsuma, which also borders Lake Haruna. The summit lies on the border of Takasaki and Higashi Agatsuma.

Mount Haruna, along with Mount Akagi and Mount Myōgi, is one of the "Three Mountains of Jōmō." (Jōmō is an ancient name for Gunma.)