Active Volcano in Japan — Living Beside Mount Shindake
Active Volcano in Japan — Living Volcano
Photographer Park Shinwoo went in search of a volcano in Japan, gathering stories for a new season of Local’s Location, his project exploring the people who live in a place. This time the setting is a village on Kuchinoerabu Island, south of Kagoshima. There, within sight of Mount Shindake, a volcano that could erupt at any moment, he met Mori Kibune and Kyoko Kibune, a couple raising two children.
Words & Photos Park Shinwoo
Mori Of course, I know an active volcano is dangerous, but I still want to live alongside it. You could say we draw energy from it.
Kyoko There aren’t many residents, but we range from children to grandmothers and grandfathers. Not just our family but everyone on the island takes part in emergency drills in case of an eruption. When an eruption begins, we go to designated shelters on the island and then leave by boat or helicopter. There’s a helicopter landing site on the western side of the island. Once we leave, we go to Yakushima.
Mori I grew up watching Mount Shindake erupt. As a child, I was terrified of it. But as an adult, facing the volcano, I realized that this island lets me feel vividly that I’m alive. That’s a precious thing. When you live in the right relationship with an active volcano, understanding that there is something humans can never overcome, you can find deep happiness even in the smallest things. If you get swept away by the material abundance of the city, you lose something that matters to you. Here, there was nothing to begin with, so you have to make everything yourself, with your hands in the soil. And in doing that, you come to know yourself for certain.
Kyoko I wasn’t born and raised on this island. I lived in the city and came here when I married. Living on this island, I was able to revive a physical sense of something I felt I’d lost in the city: the basic fact that nature comes first, and only then can I exist. I think this island is a place where you can feel that fundamental truth every day. Of course, an active volcano is frightening. But these days natural disasters and abnormal weather are happening all over the world. Anything could happen anywhere, at any time. Because it’s a small island, I think we can respond to natural disasters with confidence. It’s relatively less frightening, too. The active volcano is probably part of what allows us to live as human beings on this island.
Yukei Guesthouse, run by the Kibunes, is a converted family home equipped with a refrigerator, washing machine, bath, toilet and a range of cooking utensils. Each of its three rooms has air conditioning.
If you need to get around the island, you can ask the Kibunes, who live right next door, for help.
3,500 yen per person per night (meals not included)
+81-0997-49-2133
Mori The alert level is 3 now, so no one can climb, but when it was Level 1, we often went up the mountain. We played soccer in an old crater at the top and boiled eggs in the volcanic steam. When the Erabu azalea (erabu tsutsuji) bloomed in full, we climbed up with other people to see it. You can’t see it in autumn, as it is now, but it’s truly beautiful. Sometimes the whole village goes together to see the view.
Kyoko The island is so small, with so few people, that there are no volcano tours as such, but I really do recommend the hot springs. The view of Mount Shindake bathed in sunset light is superb, too.
Most of the trees on the mountain died in the major eruption of 2015, but oddly, that makes it look even more beautiful at sunset. I hope you’ll come see this view.
Mori The island is now designated a UNESCO Eco Park, like Jeju. We live with pride in nature, together with an active volcano. We love this island, and we’re working hard to build a sustainable island where people, nature and the active volcano can all live together. I hope people will understand that.