4152-4152 Travel Guide

Tsukiura lies on the west shore of Lake Toya in Hokkaido, a lakeside scenic spot known for its quiet lakeside paths and lake views. At dawn the surface is mirror-calm with mountain reflections, especially still; few visitors come here, making it a place to escape the crowds and enjoy Lake Toya at ease. Hot springs and lookouts are nearby, good for a stop on a circuit of the lake, or combined with Toya Onsen and Mount Usu, taking in the lake and mountain scenery and the calm mood.

The Toya Caldera and Usu Volcano Global Geopark sits south of Lake Toya in Hokkaido, a UNESCO Global Geopark. Mount Usu is among Japan's most active volcanoes, erupting four times in roughly a century (1910, 1943-45, 1977-78, 2000); Showa-shinzan, the lava dome at its foot, rose in 1943-45. The Usuzan Ropeway climbs in ~6 minutes from the Showa-shinzan base to the summit, where the Lake Toya and crater-plain observatories overlook the blue caldera lake, its central island and the steaming red earth — a close-up of a living volcano and disaster preparedness.

Shōwa-shinzan rises on the eastern flank of Mt Usu on the south shore of Lake Tōya, in Sōbetsu, Hokkaidō, Japan. Between 1943 and 1945 a wheat field here was pushed upward and a lava dome grew to about 398 m; named for the Shōwa era of its birth, it was designated a Special Natural Monument in 1957. Through the earthquakes and steady uplift, the local postmaster Masao Mimatsu measured the swelling ground day after day and plotted its growth, producing the celebrated 'Mimatsu diagram' that remains a prized field record in world volcanology; his notebooks and instruments are displayed at the Mimatsu Masao Memorial Museum at the foot. The dome is still bare rust-red rock with steam venting from its cracks, and as an active volcano it is closed to climbers, so visitors admire the shape from the base plaza. The Usuzan ropeway lifts you to a crater-rim deck taking in Shōwa-shinzan, the Usu crater and the islands of Lake Tōya — a vivid lesson in living alongside volcanoes.