It's Miller Time in Japan: Part 5: Volcano? Check!

Kristin loves volcanoes. I don't know exactly when or how the obsession started , but it's pretty full blown and I knew how important it was to her to see a volcano during this trip. Japan is situated along the circum-Pacific volcanic belt, so in addition to me living here (obviously the most important draw) the existence of 1/10 of the world's 840 active volcanoes was a sweet bonus.

Lucky for us, the active Mt. Asama is in Gunma. It's one of the most active volcanoes in Japan and just erupted in February! It was a big enough eruption that the entire mountain and several km surrounding area was closed off. The first eruption though was on May 9, 1783. It was a huge eruption and lava and volcanic ashes sprayed everywhere. The result was like an avalanche and the debris gathered surface water and transformed into a hot mud flow. The lava that cooled down formed Onioshidashi, the park that we went to check out.


"Oni" means devil. Awww, Kristin, you 'lil devil, you!

Ring my belllll, lllllllllll, lllllllllll, ring my bell!

Mt. Asama in all her glory!