Arimura Lava Observatory

This observatory is located on Taisho Lava. A walking trail has been built so that visitors can see the real lava at close range. Even if you are walking in Sakurajima, it may be surprisingly difficult to see the lava because of the houses or high fences. There are also restrooms and souvenir shops, so please feel free to take a break.

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After passing the Arimura Lava Observatory, you will cross the Sakurajima-Daikan Bridge《桜島大観橋》, and you will find a community on the mountainside of the bridge. This community is the nearest to Minamidake and is less than 3 km away from the Summit Crater. Since the area within a radius of 2 km from the Summit Crater of Minamidake or the Showa Crater is always off-limits on Sakurajima, it is clear that this area is very close. Therefore, each house has a concrete shelter for evacuation. I hear that they are sometimes used as storerooms. When the eruption alert level of Sakurajima was temporarily raised to 4 in August 2015, an evacuation was ordered for Arimura-cho and Furusato-cho within 3 km from craters. Come to think of it, buses did not stop at bus stops within the evacuation zone. Minamidake looks much closer here, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it feel somewhat oppressive?

 

It used to be the center of the Higashi Sakurajima Village. However, lava from the Taisho Great Eruption buried most of the community, and in the 1980s, large cinders flew from the active volcano, causing a mass exodus to the Hoshigamine area of Kagoshima City and other areas, and the population dwindled to a few people.

 

The beach below this bridge is known as Arimura Coast and is famous for its hot springs that gush out when dug.