Sakurajima

photo by Shokugekinogori · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by くろふね · CC BY 4.0

Until 2025 its ferry was the only one in Japan running 24 hours a day.

The ferry crosses Kinkō Bay in fifteen minutes, and until 30 September 2025 it was the only service in Japan to run 24 hours a day: today the first service is at 4:00 and the last at 23:00. From the Yunohira viewpoint, at 373 metres on the western flank, you see the Minamidake crater up close, active again since 2006 and capable of 996 eruptions in a single year (2011). In the ash soil at the foot of the volcano grow both the world's largest radish and its smallest mandarin.

A complex volcano of 1,117 metres in Kinkō Bay, now administratively part of Kagoshima-shi after the 2004 merger. Until 1914 it was an island separate from the mainland: the Great Taishō Eruption of that year poured out about 1.5 km³ of lava, which filled the strait and joined it to the Ōsumi peninsula, causing 58 deaths. The resident population fell from about 8,500 in 1985 to about 5,600 in 2010, while the activity of the Shōwa crater (resumed in 2006) has made the island one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in Japan.

ℹ️ Foot-passenger ferry: adults ¥250 each way, crossing of about 15 minutes, departures every 10–20 minutes during the day (30–60 in the evening). Until 30/09/2025 it ran 24 hours a day; since 01/10/2025 the first service is at 4:00 from Sakurajima / 4:30 from Kagoshima, the last at 23:00 / 23:30. The Yunohira viewpoint (373 m) is the closest observation point to the crater, reachable by car or on the island's sightseeing bus.

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

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