Hiking Japan's Largest Active Volcano

I decided to go hiking, my new hobby since Ive come to rural Japan. Having already climbed Mt. Yufu twice and hiked on and around Mt. Kuju a few times it was time to stretch my legs a little. I fixed my eyes on Aso-san (阿蘇山) in the neighboring prefecture of Kumamoto--an active volcano whose volcanic eruptions formed the island of Kyushu (Japans third largest island). It also holds the record for the worlds largest volcanic caldera and is Japan's largest active volcano.

The volcano offers a couple hiking routes with views of the still fuming crater and the Aso caldera. The route I choose took me from the Sensuikyou car park (仙酔峡駐車場) at the base of the Sensuikyou Rope Way up to the edge of the crater then off to the top of Naka-dake, (中岳) which overlooks the crater from a height of 1,506 meters. The second summit of the day, Taka-dake (高岳 1,592 meters), followed and I ended with a very steep descent to the car park via Sensuikyou Ridge (仙酔尾根).

For the full blog post visit: http://gaijinguide.blogspot.com/2009/07/hiking-worlds-largest-volcano-caldron...

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• japan
• hiking
• volcano
• aso
• caldera
• kumamoto
• Mt. Aso
• kyushu
• gaijinguide
• 阿蘇山
• 火口
• ハイキング
• 熊本県

[ughat]

Were you the only one up there?

[GaijinGuide]

Almost, I got a late start and started climbing at 2 pm. By the time I finished (6 pm), mine was the only car there and everything was closed. The people in Japan that hike are usually older and they start really early in the morning (to generalize). If you want the peaks to yourself starting around noon is a good rule of thumb.

[emaicecream18]

it is soo beutiful there i was there last year and i love it, do you live in the area????

[excelyea]

I'm so jealous you got to hike mt. aso! my friends and I were not allowed to hike up there because it was windy that day that made the smoke dangerous to inhale. Someone fainted from it earlier that day so they closed the path down :(

[rockeastwood14]

Thanks for the video. Ready to get my trek on now!!! Aso here I come.

[enbejey]

Nice.

[ElevenColors]

Whoah. Makes me want to get out of the city.

[runnyrunny999]

Great video!! You should visit Kamikouchi in Nagano if you like hiking. You'll see another true nature beauty out there...

[reynoldsair]

cool. nice hike.