Jump to content

Lake Hamana

Coordinates: 34°44′28″N 137°34′11″E / 34.74111°N 137.56972°E / 34.74111; 137.56972
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by LouisAlain (talk | contribs) at 14:09, 30 November 2011 (External links). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Lake Hamana
Landsat image
LocationShizuoka Prefecture
Coordinates34°44′28″N 137°34′11″E / 34.74111°N 137.56972°E / 34.74111; 137.56972
Primary outflowsPhilippine Sea
Basin countriesJapan
Surface area65.0 km²
Average depth4.8 meters
Max. depth16.6 meters
Water volume0.35 km³
Shore length1114 kilometers
Surface elevation0 meters
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Hamana (浜名湖, Hamanako) in Shizuoka Prefecture is Japan's tenth largest lake (by area). It spans the boundaries of the cities of Hamamatsu and Kosai.

Data

The lake has an area of 65.0 km² and holds 0.35 km³ of water. Its circumference is 114 km. At its deepest point, the water is 16.6 m deep. The surface is at sea level.

Economic activity

Lake Hamana is a commercial source of cultivated Japanese eel, nori, oysters and Chinese soft-shelled turtles. Fishers take sea bass,[disambiguation needed] whiting, and flounder, among others. The lake has been developed as a resort area, with boating as a feature.

History

In ancient times, Lake Hamana was a fresh-water lake. However, a great earthquake in 1498 altered the topography of the area. As a result, the water in the lake is now brackish.

The old name for this lake is Tohotu-afumi (遠つ淡海), which means "distant fresh-water lake." The name was changed to Tōtōmi (遠江). From the perspective of the capital in the Kinki region, Tōtōmi is more distant than Ōmi (Lake Biwa), the "nearby lake." The name, Tōtōmi, was also used for a former province in which the lake is located,.

Source

This article incorporates material from the article 浜名湖 (Hamanako) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on December 11, 2007.

Media related to Lake Hamana at Wikimedia Commons