Japan often fascinates us because of the unknown and sometimes inexplicable things in our Western culture (and it happens to them too). In a country where many words don’t even have a translation into our language (or don’t even need an expression), there are countless situations that make us wonder. There are also another set of stories that fascinate not only us but also them. This is one of them, and it all started when someone saw something really strange.

Path. The news takes us to one of the most famous places in Japan. Located in the central west of the island of Honshu, in Shiga Prefecture, northwest of Kyoto, is the monumental Lake Biwa, the largest in Japan, covering an area of ​​670 square kilometers.

The country is caught in a mystery that doesn’t quite make sense: Someone has built an illegal road into the lake. And it’s not going anywhere.

Lake Biwa from Space

Notice. The story began in March of this year, when an anonymous person sent a report to the civil engineering offices of Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, reporting a strange sighting in Biwa. Someone had built what appeared to be a road on Japan’s largest lake.

A later investigation not only confirmed the clue, but also confirmed the measurements of this mysterious structure. It was a road made of compacted earth, approximately 70 meters long and 3 meters wide, connecting two geographical features in the Ado River delta. In addition, tire tracks were visible, clearly indicating some form of use.

Google Maps. Satellite tools like Google Maps have provided another clue about the road’s age. Satellite images taken three years ago showed nothing resembling a levee or road, or any sediments indicating any natural formations, and Shiga Prefecture claimed that “as of May of last year, no one had confirmed the road.”

Location of “Road” on Google Maps

Today, Google Maps shows that the road has been significantly eroded, probably due to rising water. In fact, the area near the site in question is a wetland that even locals cannot access. Locals say that Takashima residents have no idea either, because no one has ever been to the area, and that “there’s nothing to do there except get stung by hornets or wild boars.”

The television is moving. The ball grew. If nothing and no one was approaching the area around the construction site, who and why would do such work? The story got so much attention that local TV channels went there. One reporter said that when he arrived, he saw that the bad situation had broken up many areas, resulting in pieces that “looked like asphalt, iron and concrete.”

Final tip. After the initial report, civil engineering reported the road to the police. Three days later, authorities received a call from an anonymous person who said he was the author and that he had piled up soil to build the road. The civil engineering department instructed the person to restore the area to its original state.

An illogical mystery. If you’ve made it this far, you might want to know the reason or motivation behind building a road to Japan’s largest lake. We’re talking days of work and a lot of work for one person that apparently makes no sense.

The police have not given this information and it is only known that there is a charge of unauthorized development, but the person behind the search has not yet been revealed. Meanwhile, several weeks have passed since the prefecture instructed those who populated the area to return it to its original state, but the road to nowhere is still there.

Picture | A-giâu, Yomiuri TV, GLCF

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