Lake Motosuko

Lake Motosuko is the westernmost and deepest of the Fuji Five Lakes, known nationally as the source of the view depicted on the reverse of Japan's 1,000-yen banknote (in circulation since 2004), a composition of Mount Fuji reflected in the lake taken from a viewpoint near the Panorama-dai ridge on the lake's northern shore. Because the lake almost never freezes over due to its depth, its surface offers a mirror-still reflection of Fuji on calm, windless mornings more reliably than the shallower lakes nearby, particularly in winter when the air is driest and Fuji's snow cap is most defined against the sky. The northern shoreline near the banknote viewpoint has a small memorial marker and interpretive sign noting the connection, and photographers gather here in the pre-dawn hours during the clearest winter conditions to attempt to recreate the exact banknote composition. Motosuko's shoreline is otherwise quiet and largely undeveloped, with campgrounds, a handful of lodges, and fishing access dominating rather than resort infrastructure, and its underground connection to neighboring Shojiko means both lakes share similar water quality despite their separate basins. The lake's western position places it closer to Nishiko and the Misaka mountains than to the more built-up eastern lakes, giving it a noticeably more remote, forested feel even though it remains within a manageable bus ride of Kawaguchiko.