Japan is a land of many mountains and volcanos, and Mt. Aso is not only among the largest active volcanos in Japan but in the world!
It was early March when I went to Mt. Aso, and they were burning the fields to fertilize the land. Apparently, this a rare treat and many tourists had come to see the fires and views.
The beautiful scorched land felt like another world. The black earth was covered in a layer of crunchy ice, and the air was bitter cold.
Usually, there would be horses atop this mountain. But it was an empty landscape, save for tourists, when I went there.
Mt. Aso: It was as if I had landed on another planet.
The area that I visited had stalls for horse rides and a museum about the volcano. I had limited time that day, and the horses were not there due to the burning, so we skipped the museum to check out the views and decided to go to nearby Oita for a hot spring trip to soothe our bodies after climbing.
By the way, parking can be very hard to find. There are some free spots for parking, but you will sacrifice walking more for free parking. Unfortunately, the free parking space was completely full.
We had to park in the museum parking space and that was 1000 yen per car!
The crater was also closed at the time I went due to a level two eruption warning, so it really pays to research in advance!
Still, even though a lot of things could not be done, Mt. Aso was a very worthwhile trip. I experienced a rare event, driving along paths and viewing brightly burning fields.
Information about Mt. Aso
◆ From Kumamoto (About 80 minutes from the Kumamoto exit)
Take(Asotozan Road)Bochusen at the Aso Station intersection on Route 57 or Road Yoshida Line Via Route 325.
◆ From Oita (About two hours from Oita City and Beppu)
Asotozan Road Bochusen / Take National Highway 57 and turn left at the Asoekimae intersection.
Road access hours:
March 20 – October 31 / 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. / Closed at 6:00 p.m.
November 1 – November 30 / 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. / Closed at 5:30 p.m.
December 1 – March 19 / 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. / Closed at 5:00 p.m.
| NOTICE | Hours are extended during the Golden Week and New Year’s holidays Please be advised that the above hours may be changed due to conditions at the crater, such as the extent of gas emission. |
address: 2619 Kamishikimi, Takamori-machi, Aso-gun
Phone Number: 0967-62-1111
Parking Lot? Yes (less than 2 minutes on foot) Free (about 10 cars)
Eruption status/restriction status: http://www.aso.ne.jp/~volcano/info/
Crater map:
Location:
