Kyushu
Suwanosejima
Suwanosejima is one of the Tokara islands in the Ryukyu Arc. The Ryukyu Islands have an interesting history. They have been independent, subjugated and fought over at different points by Japan, China and Taiwan. This fight is far from over. Many people, Ryukyuans mostly, consider the Ryukyu Islands to be a separate region of Japan at the very least, and not part of Kyushu at all. Some people consider the whole place to be part of China. A very small number of people consider a very small portion of the Ryukyus to be a part of Taiwan. The Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islands in the Ryukyu chain, are called the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan. All three countries claim ownership. For now Japan owns the whole chain.
Suwanosejima, our destination today, is a great huge volcano. The island is over twenty-seven square kilometers in size but wisely, due to the volcano I expect, only 48 people live there. There is an airport, but oddly, no regular commercial flights. And probably very few flights of any nature. It's a volcano. Off we go.
Hey! It turns out the airport is one of those artificial island things.
|
Nagasaki is off to the right there somewhere, but the weather's dodgey so we better get where we're going. We'll see the town next time we're in the area.
|
Back over the inland sea.
 |
 |
These things are pretty much everywhere.
|
A bit of rain up ahead.
|
Makurazaki - Katsuo Town. This is where your Bonito flakes come from if you're a fan of Dashi.
 |
 |
Yuck.
|
Time to go up top for a bit.
 |
 |
Yakushima Island. Apparently it rains here a lot.
|
Toshima Island. Not to be confused with Toshima Island, which is over by Tokyo. It rains here too I bet.
|
Just up ahead is our destination.
|
There we are. Suwonosejima. Looks more like Kong Island at the moment, but at least the place isn't blowing up. It does that frequently. This is the most active volcano in Japan and one of the most active in the world. It is in a near-constant state of strombolian eruption. That means it shoots fiery bombs at airplanes. There are several other types of eruptions.Anyhow, time to get a place for the night. |