Sakurajima spits up grey ash on a hazy day. Viewed from my bus stop.

I’m lucky that my current home in 鹿児島 (かごしま/Kagoshima), in southwest Japan, has a good view. Then again, maybe it isn’t luck, as most people plan their houses to have at least one window/balcony with a view of Kagoshima’s most famous sight, 桜島 (さくらじま/Sakurajima).

The long, horizontal piece originally stood several meters above the ground, but the lava flow buried it almost completely.

Originally a volcanic island, Sakurajima has been pretty active for as long as 日本 (にほん/Japan) has been keeping records. The 島 in 桜島  means island, but 桜島 is not actually an island, at least not anymore. Usually, the 火山 (かざん/volcano) simply burps up gas and 灰 (はい/ash), but occasionally there can be some very large lava flows. One particularly large one in 1914 filled the sea between the island and the mainland with 灰 and lava, connecting the two and 桜島 was an island no more. A good way to see the damage from that flow is to visit the shrine that was partially buried.

Recently, 桜島 has been getting a bit more active. 日本 started keeping a closer eye on the eruptions in 1955, and has been counting and numbering all eruptions considered “explosive”. For over 20 years, the record for explosive eruptions in one year was 474 in 1984. For unknown reasons though, 桜島 has recently increased it’s activity drastically. 2009 brought us 548 explosive eruptions, 2010 saw a big leap to 897, and the year ending December 31, 2011 had 996! Is this a sign that something big is brewing deep in the belly of the beast? Only time will tell, but within the first two weeks of this year, it is already up to over 100 eruptions, well on track for another record breaking year.

For the curious among you, there are a few live cameras set up at this web site, though they may only work in internet explorer: 桜島ライブカメラ (Sakurajima Live Camera). Occasionally, if you look when it is nighttime here, you can see the bright orange glow of lava reflecting off clouds above the crater.

If you want to follow the eruption details, they are listed here: Sakurajima Eruption Details (Google Translate)

Night sets as Sakurajima lets off some steam.