Sakurajima

Lore & Background

Sakurajima sits within the 20 km-wide Aira caldera, formed by a massive eruption around 28,000 years ago. The volcano itself emerged about 13,000 years ago and has produced 17 large-scale pumice eruptions since. Its summit has three peaks: Kita-dake, Naka-dake, and Minami-dake, with Minami-dake being the most recently active. The 1914 eruption, the most powerful in twentieth-century Japan, began on 11 January after a century of dormancy. Large earthquakes prompted evacuations, and the eruption initially explosive, later effusive, produced lava flows that filled the strait to the mainland, creating a peninsula. The eruption killed 35 people directly (58 including indirect causes) and inspired a 1914 movie, The Wrath of the Gods.

Reader's Guide

Sakurajima's significance lies in its continuous activity and the risks it poses to the nearby city of Kagoshima, home to 680,000 residents. Since 1955, the volcano has erupted almost constantly, with thousands of small explosions annually. The Sakurajima Volcano Observatory, established in 1960, monitors these eruptions. The volcano was designated a Decade Volcano in 1991 as part of the United Nations' International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. Its eruptions have built white sand highlands and created fertile volcanic soil, supporting agriculture such as the Sakurajima daikon radish and komikan orange. The area is a tourist destination for its onsen, lava flows, and local pottery made from volcanic ash. Ecological succession in recent eruption sites has been studied. As of November 2025, volcanic activity continues, dropping ash on surroundings. A 2016 study suggested a major eruption could occur within 30 years.

Did You Know?

• Sakurajima was an island until the 1914 eruption connected it to the Ōsumi Peninsula.
• The volcano's highest peak, Kita-dake, rises to 1,117 m (3,665 ft) above sea level.
• Sakurajima is part of the Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park.
• The 1914 eruption inspired a movie titled The Wrath of the Gods.