Several weeks ago, I visited a volcanic caldera lake next to one of Japan’s active volcanoes; the last eruption was in 2000. This particular lake was the host for the international G8 summit and has an interesting shape. The lake was circular, but in the middle lay an island similar in shape to a bull’s eye.
Unfortunately, the particular day that I went did not have very good weather as it had rained and drizzled with much fog so the visibility of the central island was subpar. After a 2 hour train ride, we visited a ranch and rode on some horses. I must say that my horse, Sakura, was the greediest horse I’ve ever seen in terms of food. She literally would walk 5 steps and stop to munch on the grass on the hillside. It took quite a bit of frustration and reining her in just to go up the mountain; on the upside, I guess it prolonged an otherwise short journey as I usually like horse riding.
We then had a lovely lunch at a restaurant with a wall of windows’ allowing for a beautiful view of the lake and island. Afterwards, we began the long trek on foot to get to a ropeway cable car. Unfortunately, we encountered swarms of what-I-now-know-are-called snow bugs. While they do not bite, the sheer quantity of them was disturbing as they covered my coat and was on everyone’s hair and face and, if you’re unlucky, mouth.
By the time we finally arrived, it was quite late, but we did attempt to see the view from the ropeway cable car. Maybe next time, I’ll get a nice clear view of the volcano crater.
Musings of a Gaijin MD 