Hokkaido’s Mount Usu Volcano is Smoking

Perhaps the least visited large island of Japan is Hokkaido in the north, since it's relatively far away from the main cities of Tokyo or Osaka, and doesn't have the fame of places like Hiroshima or Okinawa. But Hokkaido is, in my opinion, the most beautiful area of Japan. And a fascinating spot to visit on Hokkaido is the Mount Usu volcano in the Shikotsu Toya National Park. If you haven't heard of it yet, you soon will: the 2008 G8 Summit will take place at Lake Toya, near Mount Usu.

Hokkaido is much less densely populated than much of Japan, and there are plenty of natural areas and countryside where you can feel a bit more in touch with nature. From the main city of Sapporo it's about an hour and a half by train to Toya station (or a similar time from the other main city, Hakodate). Once you get to Toya station, you need to take a bus bound for Lake Toya itself, about a twenty minute ride.

While the lake itself is beautiful, I found the volcanoes the most fascinating part of the area. Mount Usu is the most well-known and made the headlines as recently as 2000, when it erupted and destroyed roads and buildings. Careful scientific monitoring of the region meant that everybody was evacuated long before anything too serious happened, and I felt safe visiting again knowing that the Japanese technology was in action. Fingers crossed!

You can take the Usuzan Ropeway (like a cable car) up the mountain, and there are two observation platforms to look over the lake and the craters of the volcano. You can also follow walking trails around the area, including tracks past several new craters on the western side of Mount Usu - these craters were created by the eruption in 2000. Throughout the area, the authorities have left some of the cracked roads and destroyed buildings unrepaired, so that visitors can better imagine the power of an erupting volcano. There's plenty of realism here as the volcano is still smoking, too. And that makes for some dramatic pictures.

Nearby Showa-shinzan, a smaller mountain directly next to Mount Usu, also has an amazing story behind it: it has existed for less than a hundred years. Earthquakes and eruptions of Mount Usu during the years 1943 to 1945 produced Showa-shinzan out of a previously flat field - now that's geology in action.