Volcano!

On our last day in Toya we opted to really see the area before we left it early the following morning. With this in mind we walked about in the snow, made some snow angels, and sampled the road-side footbaths. Our actual destination was the Volcano Science Museum, newly refurbished for the imminent summit. It was there that we learned that Toya is centered around the most active volcano in Japan, Mount Usu, which had eruptions in 1910, 1977, and again in 2000. It is, however, a very predictable volcano, with rumbling and ash plumes leading up to eruptions days in advance. Because of this it is a very important volcano to the scientific community, according to the literature. The museum itself was a lot more interesting than I had anticipated, with a theatre rigged with several movie screens and something that made everything vibrate as if there were pre-eruption earthquakes, a simulator of the 1977 eruption, and some relics of the 2000 eruption. In this last category they had a truck that had been totaled by ballistic projectile rocks (I learned the word for that in Japanese from the exhibit as well!), shattered paving stones and train tracks that had been bent by the ground moving underneath them. After the museum we took a look around the visitor’s centre, which had information about local wildlife. We finished off our day with some dinner out and a movie back in the room with a bottle of local wine from the convenience store. Oh, and of course one last dip in the hot springs.
-While my new wellingtons are waterproof, thus protecting my feet from the snow, they are not at all insulated, which means that my feet are still cold, just not wet.
-Mount Usu actually has several smaller peaks on it, which are named for the different eras that they ‘appeared’ in. The idea of mountains just popping up is more than a little alarming to me.
-There are several invasive species that are causing problems around here, among them raccoons and crayfish. I can’t say that I understand how either of them got here though..