Horado Rock Pools

We're on our way to visit the crystal clear rock pools in the mountains around the Japanese town of Horado.

As we drive along the flat fields we can see the mountains surrounding the town of Horado in the distance. As this is a rural area most of the flat land is used for growing rice and most of the houses are indicative of rural dwellings, being large with large yards compared to city dwellings where space is much more restricted.

Once we enter the mountainous region we can see the steepness of the mountain ranges enveloping small communities.

Here we can see the first mountain stream as the water makes its journey to the ocean.

Being a volcanically active country, Japan's rivers and particularly it's mountain streams are lined with predominantly volcanic rock and sandy rock particles which keeps the water in such waterways crystal clear and devoid of sediment and mud which characterize many other countries waterways.

This mountain stream has cut it's path, perhaps over millions of years through the mountain ranges and as we can see from the marks on the bank, this stream can carry and has carried a far greater amount of water than is currently flowing now.

As we make our way up into the mountains both the road and mountain stream narrow until we arrive where the stream is at it's narrowest and steepest and the water cascades down over the volcanic boulders.

Over time this running water has gauged out nooks and cranny's and pockets in it's path.  We call these flat deep pockets of water, 'rock pools'. They occur periodically on flat pieces of land where the rock and nature have eroded away to form large pools of water.

Water crashing down over rocks, called waterfalls, hits the base further gauging out the pool below. Being all rock, or the crushed particles of rock means there is no muddy sediment being stirred up in the water and thus the water and rock pools are crystal clear and an ideal swimming and relaxation venue during the hot summer months.

Being elevated also keeps the water at a refreshingly cool temperature, even during summer.

Over time with the constant flow of water, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall and melting snow, has resulted in many of the rock pools being quite deep, almost resembling swimming pools.

As you'll notice, most rock pools are at the base of water falls, all be them small waterfalls, where the water streams down at it's fastest hitting the base of the water fall and gauging out a hole, almost it could be said quite violently. This constant gauging over time gradually expands the size of the rock pool below.

Water cascades down through and over steep inclinations of rocks settling on flat areas below. But where does all this water come from? Endlessly flowing even in periods of little or no rainfall. In winter and more importantly Spring, this particular area has a  lot of melting snow which can account for a vast majority of the water. But what about summer when this footage was taken and during a period of relatively no rainfall.

Here is the answer. Water permeating directly from the mountain or more correctly underground springs throughout the mountains. Here we can see water dripping from the stream bank in a valley between the mountains. Although only drips and trickles, this amount over a wide area ads millions of litres a year to the streams, creeks and rivers in this area.

Unlike many other country's like Australia which is the driest continent on earth, it is clear to see that Japan has an abundance of groundwater. Many of these underground springs are hot resulting from volcanic activity and are turned into and utilized as recreational hot springs called Onsens.

Many cold underwater springs, like those feeding this stream pour an endless amount of water into Japan's waterway's and despite a reasonably large population Japan has so far escaped many of the water shortages currently afflicting many countries.

Here the water has carved a path through shear rock and continues to do so on a daily basis. Albeit very slowly.   

If Japan were to compare itself to many other countries around the world, especially a country like Australia it could consider itself quite fortunate to have such an abundance of fresh water. 

Due to climate change many country's face severe water shortages and droughts yet even in times of  little or no rainfall, Japan has creeks and rock pools like this one supplying the country with  millions of litres of fresh water. 

In terms of fresh water supply, Japan would indeed be the envy of many countries around the world.

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