The waters of Blue Pond in Hokkaido Prefecture's Biei Town appear blue due to their volcanic components. For the past 10 years, the town has been lighting up the popular site in winter when it has ...

But tourist money started to pour in 2012, after Apple Inc. used a photo of Shirogane Blue Pond in Biei as a desktop wallpaper. The pond, a manmade reservoir with a strikingly blue hue apparently ...

BIEI, Hokkaido—Over the course of a year ... It was a shot of Shirogane Blue Pond. The pond was formed after water from Bieigawa river pooled behind a government-built dam blocking mudflows ...

Famous for its azure hue in the warmer months, Biei Town's Blue Pond in Hokkaido is popular with sightseers and locals alike. In winter, the body of water takes on an entirely different appearance ...

However, the Blue Pond is man-made and was the result of works on the Biei River, carried out after the 1988 eruption of Mount Tokachidake to protect the town of Biei from volcanic mudflows.