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Overview

Lake Nojiri is a part of the Myoko Togakushi Renzan National Park. The lake lies just across the border of Myoko in Shinanomachi in Nagano Prefecture. The lake is a 5-minute drive from Myoko.

In winter, visitors can engage in the uniquely Japanese sport of fishing for smelt (wakasagi), using red-dyed ant-eggs as bait. Wakasagi are a tiny silvery freshwater fish about the size of an anchovy. As the lake freezes over (though be warned it is not thick ice for walking on!), specially designed boats are available for hire. You can sit in the cabin warmed by a kerosene heater sipping warm local shochu (Japanese distilled spirits) as you fish.