Mount Usu- Smokin' Aces

Of all the exotic locations, I cannot think of something that has fascinated me more than Mount Usu, a live volcano in Japan.

While the world knows and recognises Mt Fuji as perhaps the most famous tourist destination in Japan, there is one major difference between the two. Mt Fuji as beautiful as it is, is a dormant volcano, one that has not spewed lava for a few centuries now. Mt Usu on the other hand is an active volcano. The last eruption was in 2000.

What made it so fascinating was the fact that smoke was rising from the volcano as we made our way to the top. We were taken right to the top by a ropeway . A nice pathway had been made for the tourists and right next to it was the very hot surface of the volcano. I still can't believe that we got the chance to go to the top of a volcano which was releasing smoke. This image taken by Amanda Kendle shows you the kind of view a tourist gets on top of Mt Usu

It was my Grandmom who first noticed the smoke from the base of the mountain but all of us laughed it off. After all, whoever heard of a cableway to the top of a volcano releasing smoke, threatening to erupt(well at least the possibility existed). But that was actually the case!



There is Lake Toya near Usuzan and it has a mountain within it made entirely by the volcanic eruptions from Mt Usu years back. Lake Toya was the venue of the recent G-8 summit and that is exactly the place where our Prime Minister was when the Left chose to withdraw support to the government which led to the trust vote in parliament.

This image from cache.daylife.com shows the smoke rising from Mt Usu before the eruption in 2000.


Getting to Usu is an adventure in itself.

From Tokyo you've got to take the Shinkansen(Bullet Train) till Morioka.and then switch trains to go to Aomori which is the northernmost tip of Honshu. From there you need to take a train to Sapporo the capital of HokkaidoThe real fun starts from Aomori. There is a 54 Km long tunnel that connects the two islands Honshu and Hokkaido. An underwater tunnel. Amazing architectural feat. What would have been even more awesome as my grandfather put it, is if we had been able to see the sea underwater like in SeaWorld. Now THAT would have been an experience.

I can think of a lot of natural wonders: Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls, The Great Barier Reef, Everest and many other places. Undoubtedly all these places are completely out of this world, but there is just something about getting to the top of an active Volcano that takes your breath away.