From a Western perspective, Japan has always fascinated us with its unique and sometimes unexplainable particularities—much like we fascinate the people of Japan. In a country where many words don’t have a direct translation into our language, there are countless situations that spark our curiosity. Recently, however, a strange occurrence has captured the attention of both locals and outsiders.
The road. This story takes us to one of the most famous places in Japan, located in the center-west of the island of Honshu in the prefecture of Shiga, northwest of Kyoto. This is the home of the monumental Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan, covering an area of 260 square miles.
Now, the country is engulfed in a mystery that hardly has a logical explanation: Someone has built a road in the lake without permission, and it leads nowhere.
Lake Biwa as seen from space.
Dropping a dime. The story started in March 2024 when an anonymous tip reached the civil engineering offices of Takashima City in Shiga Prefecture. The tip reported a strange sighting in Biwa. Someone had built what looked like a road in Japan’s largest lake.
Subsequent investigation not only confirmed the tip but also the measurements of the mysterious construction. It was a 230-foot-long and 10-foot-wide road made of compacted soil connecting two landforms in the delta of the Ado River. Furthermore, authorities saw tire tracks, clearly indicating some kind of usage.
Google Maps. Satellite-driven tools like Google Maps provided crucial evidence about the age of the road. Satellite images from three years ago showed no signs of an embankment or road, or any sediment indicating a natural formation. The Shiga Prefecture claimed that as of May last year, nobody had confirmed the existence of the road.
Location of the “road” on Google Maps.
From current Google Maps images, it’s evident that the road has undergone significant wear and tear, likely due to rising water levels. The area near the site appears to be a wetland that locals are unable to access. Even residents of Takashima are unfamiliar with the area, stating that there’s nothing to do there except risk encountering hornets or wild boars.
Reporting from the scene. If nobody used to go near the construction site, why was it constructed, and by whom? The story has gained a lot of attention, with local television stations covering the incident. One reporter said that upon arrival, he noticed that the poor condition had caused several areas to crumble, revealing materials such as “asphalt, iron, and concrete.”
One last piece of evidence. After the initial report, the civil engineering department informed the police. Three days later, the authorities received a call from an anonymous person confessing to being the perpetrator. They admitted to piling up dirt to block the road. As a result, the civil engineering department ordered the person to restore the area to its original state.
A mystery without logic. If you’ve come this far, you may want to know the reason or motive that led whoever it was to build a road on Japan’s largest lake. We’re talking about a considerable amount of work for a single person, and it apparently doesn’t make any sense.
The police haven’t released any information about the culprit. All we know is that someone has been charged with unauthorized development, but the person responsible hasn’t come forward yet. Despite the prefecture’s instructions to restore the area to its original state, the road to nowhere still remains there.
Image | A-giâu | Yomiuri TV | GLCF
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