Region

Akita Live Cameras in Japan — 2 official webcams

Lake Towada seen from Hakka Pass, and Mount Akita-Yakeyama. The lake fills a volcanic caldera, so the view itself is the remains of an eruption.

What you can see

One scenic camera from the Ministry of the Environment and one volcano camera from the Japan Meteorological Agency. Both look at the Towada-Hachimantai area, but they were put there for different reasons.

The Hakka Pass camera stands at a tourist viewpoint and takes in Lake Towada from above, far shore included. Akita-Yakeyama is a monitoring camera fixed on the summit area. Tamagawa and Goshogake, two of Japan's strongest hot springs, sit at the foot of this mountain, and the summit is dotted with hot pools and steam vents. This is ground that vents directly into the air.

The Hakka Pass camera does not simply stand on high ground above a lake. Lake Towada fills a caldera, and the pass itself sits on its outer rim — that is, on the edge of the crater. Everything in the frame, from the foreground to the far shore, lies inside that crater. The Nakayama and Ogura peninsulas jutting into the lake from the south were built by a later eruption inside the first one, and it is this nesting that people mean by a double caldera. The water is over 300 m deep and never freezes over, even at midwinter.

2 cameras in Akita

All 2 are still images. Tap one to open it in the camera list.

• Sample August 2026

  Lake Towada from Hakka Pass

  Kosaka, Akita · Nature

  The double caldera lake seen whole from the pass overlook. The water shifts from blue to lead grey with the angle of the light.

  MOE Still, hourly Open the official page →

• Sample August 2026

  Akita Yakeyama

  Akita · Volcano

  The mountain behind the strong hot springs at Tamagawa and Goshogake. Hot pools and vents are scattered over the summit, with steam coming straight out of the ground.

  JMA Still, every 2 min Open the official page →

When to watch

Hakka Pass sits on the south shore of Lake Towada and looks down onto the water. The difference between a blue day and a leaden one is striking, and on windy days you can see the surface break up. Autumn colour peaks around mid-October.

Mount Akita-Yakeyama is one of the volcanoes under constant watch. Winter closes it down to a single sheet of white, so open it between summer and autumn if you want to see the terrain.

Closer looks at cameras here

• Lake Towada2
• JMA Volcano Watch Cameras49
• The Volcanoes of Tohoku8
• Autumn Leaves16
• Volcanic lakes11
• Geothermal Areas16

Agencies publishing the cameras on this page

• Japan Meteorological Agency — volcano surveillance cameras (PDL 1.0) — Official site
• Ministry of the Environment — Internet Nature Institute (PDL 1.0) — Official site

The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.