Sakurajima - 桜島 - is actually translated as “Cherry Blossom Island.” I’m not sure why because the only place I have seen where they bloom is the Dinosaur Park - fun for all the family, but when I was there I somehow managed to get my wallet stolen. 25,000 years ago the Dinosaur Park did not even exist (note, the dinosaurs themselves were also killed off millions of years ago). In fact, neither did Sakurajima. If you looked out across the bay then, you would have seen some sort of ’super volcano’ and this would have made Sakurajima look quite puny. A few thousand years later it erupted, ejecting ash and rock so far into the air that it covered much of southern Japan. Where the city of Kagoshima lies now is actually on top of its huge pyroclastic flow deposits. Indeed, so much magma was injected that the volcano collapsed forming a giant basin, or caldera ( Aira caldera ), and this was subsequently filled with water to form Kinko Bay. Kagoshima: Sakurajima (red triangle) and Kagoshima Bay A maybe-not-so-interesting fact is that the caldera is actually rectangular in shape. If you look at the map of Kagoshima Bay above, you can see that it snakes down from Kinko Bay until it reaches the sea. This is the Kagoshima graben , which simply means that the area is controlled by faults, as indicated by the red dashed lines. This also extends to the Kirishima mountain range to the north. And so to Sakurajima, which is actually two volcanoes. Kitadake (North-peak) started growing on the southern rim of Aira caldera about 23,000 years ago, but activity shifted to Minamidake (South-peak) around 4,000 years ago and has continued until the present day. If you look at the mountain, you can just about see where it splits into two stratovolcanoes. A line of weakness has formed a steep valley at the bottom where heavy rains cause numerous debris or mudflows (you could tentatively refer to them as lahars ) that pound the river channels below, particularly around June during the rainy season. The Japanese try to control these by a system of ‘Sabo’ dams and levees: huge concrete structures that first block the flows and then channel them safely to the shoreline. I’ve seen some stupid tourist descriptions that incredibly suggested they were for lava flows like in the movie “Volcano.” Idiots! Sabo technology, although successful in this case, is actually quite controversial in my view. As anyone who has visited Japan can testify, the use of concrete has extended to almost all of the country’s riverbanks, hillsides and coastlines, so you can picture the results. The technology has also been exported to developing countries such as the Philippines where the tropical climate causes channels to fill very quickly, but the resources are unavailable for round-the-clock maintenance like in Japan. Kitadake and Minamidake In addition to the two main craters, numerous ‘parasitic’ vents are also located around the volcano. For example, the single largest event in the last 100 years was the Taisho eruption of 1914. This started with huge explosions (described as Plinian according to some reports) on the western flank and then continued with lava flows from eastern fissure vents, which lasted for more than a year. These flows connected with Osumi peninsular in the south-east and Sakurajima was an island no more. 1914 Taisho eruption Recent activity: The total number of explosions at the summit of Minamidake during 1955-2002 exceeds 7,600. This number must have significantly increased since because an eruption in 2006 reopened a second vent on the slope near the summit crater. This vent was previously active in 1946 (the Showa era in Japan, hence it is known as the Showa crater), emitting large amounts of lava. Since I arrived in Kagoshima in April 2007, there seemed to be three periods of explosive activity - June 2007, November 2007 and February 2008 - 4/5 months apart (although I can’t verify this exactly). For me this was great timing as I could experience the ashfalls that regularly showered the city during the 1980s and 1990s, but I can assure you that the novelty soon wears off. Activity intensified in March 2008 with intermittent explosions from the Showa and Minamidake craters almost every week; in fact, during April/May there were several explosions every day from the Showa crater - very exciting! This has died down somewhat although we caught a large summit eruption a few weeks ago . February 2008 explosion For more reliable information I recommend more professional sites, but invariably information in English is somewhat limited (part of the reason why I started this blog). The Smithsonian Institute weekly reports often include Sakurajima updates, but if you can read Japanese (haha! Impossible…), JMA and the Kyoto University observatory provide the most up-to-date information (the latter also has a simple English site). I’ve had quite a lot of contact with the guys at the observatory (Kyoto seem to be the leaders of volcanology in Japan and they also have a huge observatory at Aso ) so I’ve got to see the huge monitoring set-up they have. Sakurajima has to be one of the most monitored volcanoes in the world - they’ve even got tunnels built into to the mountain to measure, amongst other things, ground-tilting and changes in groundwater levels. They can detect big changes only seconds before an explosion, but I’m not sure of the overall benefit to eruption forecasting. I was there only once when an explosion triggered the alarm. It was all very calm and people carried on working on their computers! As the threat to human life is quite minimal, I suppose the work usually revolves around collecting data and so on. Still, I thought it was pretty cool… What to do at Sakurajima: Sakurajima is famous for the world’s largest radish (ooooh!) and the world’s smallest orange (aaaah!). People have tried to grow the radish elsewhere, but only the soil at the foot of the volcano seems to yield the giant size. You can take your photo with it at a number of tourist shops, which, just like everywhere else in Japan, exist in abundance and are frequented by the large bus tours. Ignoring the crowds, there are also a lot of great lookouts such as at Arimura, located on the 1914 lava flow, where you have a clear view of the Showa crater and maybe lucky enough to watch an explosion live. However, if the wind is right you may be covered in ash soon afterwards! My favourite way to see the volcano is by bike as you can escape around to the east and north of the ‘island.’ Some of the small harbours have a Mediterranean feel about them and it’s beautiful to look out over Kinko Bay and towards Kirishima if it’s clear enough. when you’re tired you can stop at a small cafe for a cup of tea, again in full view of the Showa crater. Of course it’s mandatory to visit an onsen (hotspring), and at Furusato you can pay 1000 yen (£5) to walk through a ghastly hotel but end up in a naturally hot pool next to the sea. Lovely! Frequently asked questions: 1. Will Sakurajima kill me? If you try to climb Minamidake then you probably have a 75% of dying (my guess), yes. I considered climbing Kitadake when the wind is in the opposite direction and with a gas mask/helmet etc., but then the recent activity started… No thanks. On the other hand, a bunch of foreigners, professional volcanologists, came on a field trip and couldn’t believe people lived so close and got a bit hysterical. It’s quite a reality-check living next to a volcano - life tends to carry on as normal. 2. What is the state of Sakurajima today? See for yourself! Here is a number of daily or live webcams you can check: this morning’s Sakurajima , MinamiNippon Shinbun , various cameras of the Sabo Centre . Also daily wind conditions (important to check if there’s a load of ash coming your way) are reported by KYT . 3. I want to live on Sakurajima. Is it okay? I heard you won’t be able to get insurance. Unlucky. 4. Is there anywhere else like Sakurajima? Look at the photos below - no wonder Kagoshima is known as the Naples of the East! One is Kagoshima and Sakurajima; the other is Naples and Vesuvius. Which is which?!

It's my mom's birth place. My grand ma lives here. It's a super cool (almost)island. It's almost becoz a part of the island is connected to the mainland by lava. yep! lava from the volcano located in the middle of the island.

Best for leisure. fishing and walking. fresh air and clean sea.

Stay the night on the island and you may wake up to ashes on your car. Also take a drive around the island and check out the enormous DAIKONS!

It's an active volcano in Nishi-Kagoshima. Catch it at sunrise to see the sun appear from out of the crater.

Incredible feeling below the ash falls !