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It spit some ash into the air, and where it land I know not where.

As indicated in my last entry, I live in 鹿児島(かごしま/Kagoshima), which is very close to 桜島(さくらじま/Sakurajima), an active 火山(かざん/volcano). Actually, an active 火山 that is getting more and more active as the years go by. Unsurprisingly, this affects our day to day lives in many ways, but it’s all due to one factor: volcanic 灰 (はい/ash).

My poor car…

灰 covers everything here. Wash your 車 (くるま/car) on a beautiful clear day, and soon after you will see a light coating of 灰 on the hood, even though you see nothing in the air. Do it when the 風 (かぜ/wind) is blowing in the wrong direction, and soon you will see your 車 change from its natural colour to a dark gray.

雨が降っています。「あめがふっています/ame ga futte imasu」。(“It is raining”, or more literally, “Rain is falling”)

灰が降っています。「はいがふっています/hai ga futte imasu」。(“Ash is falling”. Much like we use 降る(ふる/Furu) to say rain is falling from the sky, we can also use it to say ash is falling from the sky).

桜島 is located about 10km directly 東 (ひがし/east) of 鹿児島市 (かごしまし/Kagoshima city), on the other side of Kinko bay. When the wind blows from 西 (にし/west) to 東, the villages and towns 東 of the volcano get the most ash. When it blows from 東 to 西, 鹿児島市 gets coated. Since the 風 is so important to our daily lives, we pay a little closer attention to the 天気予報 (てんきよほう/weather forecast) than most people. There is even a special 火山 forecast, showing an aerial view of the 火山, and two arrows. One showing the direction and speed of the ash expected at 9am, and another showing the same for 3pm.

While most people still love living here, it is getting increasingly annoying as 桜島 has been getting more and more active. As of this writing, it has erupted(explosively) 158 times since 一月一日 (いちがつついたち/January 1st). Last year was record breaking for both the number of eruptions, and the volume of 灰 that fell on the city. If this month is any indication, it’s not getting better . When the wind turns towards us in the spring, we might have to rethink how we go about our daily lives.

The wind is blowing east to west, so the ash fell directly on downtown Kagoshima.

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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.

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