Mount Fuji - Oshino Hakkai View, Japan

Mount Fuji rises behind the thatched roofs of Oshino Hakkai (忍野八海), a village at the northern foot of the volcano in Yamanashi, where visitors crowd the paths around crystal-clear spring ponds with the snowy summit towering above.

The area was once a lake that dried up, leaving eight spring-fed ponds behind. Snowmelt from Mount Fuji can take almost 20 years to soak down through the volcanic rock before it bubbles up here, which is why the water is so clear.

The ponds are a National Natural Monument and one of Japan's Selected 100 Exquisite and Well-Conserved Waters. They're also part of the Mount Fuji World Heritage site, and visitors can taste the spring water at special spots.

Did You Know? Hokusai's famous print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from his 1830s series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, shows Fuji tiny in the distance.

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