Seismologists and volcano experts such as Dr. Masaaki Kimura, graduate of Japan's Tokyo University and the Lamont geological institute in the US, have observed preliminary signs of a potential eruption of iconic Mt. Fuji. It is thinkable that, within our lifetimes, possibly within the next ten years, Mt. Fuji will erupt. If so, the greatest risk to people living in the vicinity will be from volcanic ash. Do you have goggles in your disaster kit? Dr. Kimura reminds us that volcanic ash is a lot like grains of ground-up glass.
Meanwhile, the government is making contingency plans. The Japan Times online has this to say:
"Mount Fuji, a 3,776-meter volcano, straddles Shizuoka and Yamanashi and is close to the border of Kanagawa. The iconic mountain, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site last year, has erupted many times in the past.
The 470,000 people live in areas where 30 cm or more of volcanic ash is expected to fall based on data from the previous eruption in 1707 and a Mount Fuji hazard map prepared by the central government in 2004.
In these areas, wooden houses are at risk of being crushed under volcanic ash, which becomes heavy after absorbing rain."
(for the complete article, please go to The Japan Times)
Okinawa Looks Like This
Peaceful: a beautiful place for a walk
自己紹介
- Chura
- Born and raised in the USA (NJ), I’ve spent most of my adult life in Japan. One of my favorite places in Japan is Okinawa. To me, Okinawa is a land of stories and an island of music, magic and mystery. The music is shima-uta, songs sung to the rhythm of a three-stringed lute called a sanshin. The magic is in the colors of land, sea and sky. The mystery? Mystery begins where the line between legend and verifiable human memories begins to blur. I am a member of the Archaeological Institute of America, chapter chief of a sanshin study society, and a founding member of the Marine Culture Research Association of Okinawa.