Oshino Hakkai Springs Sacred Site No. 3: Sokonashi Pond

This pond is one of the ponds which make of Oshino Hakkai Springs, which has been designated a Natural Monument, selected for inclusion in the Japanese Top 100 Famous Water list, and which is also included in the Fujisan World Heritage listing. The source of the pond is underground spring water from Mt. Fuji. The third of Oshino Hakkai Springs' sacred ponds, it is situated on the grounds of the Hannoki Bayashi Shiryokan museum and is surrounded by trees and greenery. According to legend, a woman doing her washing at the pond dropped her vegetables and washboard into the water, where she immediately lost them; sometime later, they appeared floating in Okama-ike Pond, one of the other sacred Oshino Hakkai Springs ponds, and thus it is has been passed down for generations in the area that to do one's washing here is to invite the anger of the gods.