JAPAN

JAPAN / 日本

Lake Chūzenji and Mount Nantai in autumn.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 01.03.1999.
Face value: 80 Japanese yen.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 26 x 36 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2637.
- Sakura No. R276.
- Scott No. Z276.
- StampWorld No. 2682.
- Stanley Gibbons No. TOCH-5.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2518.

Lake Chūzenji (中禅寺湖), also called Sea of Happiness, is a scenic lake in Nikkō National Park, into Tochigi Prefecture. It was created 20,000 years ago when Mount Nantai (a stratovolcano, 2,484 m; 8,150 ft) erupted and blocked the Yukawa river. The lake has a surface area of 11.62 km² (4.48 sq mi) and a circumference of 25 km (82 mi). Its elevation at the surface is 1,269 m (4,124 ft), and the water reaches a depth of 163 m (508 ft). The Lake was discovered in 782 by a priest named Shōdō when his group succeeded in climbing Mt. Nantai. Considered sacred, the mountain was closed to women, horses, and cows until 1872.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).