Name: What Living on Japan's MOST ACTIVE Volcano is Like | These People Are...
Uploaded: 2026-01-29T18:37:07.000Z
Duration: 20 min 30 s
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More specifically, Japan's most active volcano.

It's tucked into the bay of Kagoshima, an area many once called the pirate capital of Japan.

It's over 1100 meters tall and is so active that as of recently, it's been erupting as much as a third thousand times per year.

Entire YouTube channels are dedicated to capturing the eruptions, both big and small.

These scenes are a fairly regular occurrence, and the winds often carry the ash clear to the mainland.

The island is filled with evacuation shelters in case of eruptions and falling debris.

The streets are are covered in volcanic ash, and

children have to wear helmets on a near daily basis.

And this is perhaps the most interesting thing about Sakurajima.

The people who actually choose to live on it.

You see, Sakurajima has several villages, towns even filled with people.

People once divided by a history of discrimination.

People who live on Japan's most active volcan.

I've even chosen to live there myself for an entire week.

And honestly, I still can't believe that people choose to call this their home.

And unsurprisingly, I'm not the only one who feels that way.

What's more is that it's not just people who were born and raised on Sakurajima who choose to stay.

Many of the residents have actually moved there from other areas.

And why would someone choose to live with the ever looming threat of volcanic eruption?

So you know that is, The last major eruption in Sakurajima was actually in 1914.

And you can see the evidence of it to this day all around the island, there's even a shrine gate that was half buried in volcanic ash.

In fact, the eruption was so large that the lava flow connected the island to the mainland.

Many say that the lava flow of this particular volcano is so slow that in the 1914 eruption, many residents even had time to tear down their homes.

Sakurajima does have monitoring stations and professionals watching it 24, 7.

But have the daily eruptions desensitized the residents to the potential danger?

Most people seem to feel safe, but not everyone shares the same feelings of optimism.

And it shows as you wander through the island.

Abandoned homes and buildings are everywhere.

Over the years, thousands have made the choice to leave.

Children all across Japan are typically given hats to wear to school.

But here on Sakurajima, kids are required to wear protect protective helmets to and from their classes.

It's all just become part of the usual lifestyle, A lifestyle that some see as normal, while others see it as risky or inconvenient.

There's one main restaurant on the island, which is quite popular for lunch, and one main cafe.

But in a week of living there, I didn't see it open even once.

And there are only three places on the island to really do your grocery shopping.

One supermarket and two convenience stores.

Fishing is so big here that the convenience stores even have an entire section for fishing goods and supplies, including a freezer for bait.

But not every day is filled with with relaxation and fishing.

Every resident is given about 100 bags for collection and disposal of ash each year.

The ash is such a big part of life here that everything, including graves, are given shelter.

As dryers aren't common in Japan, most people hang their laundry indoors to dry, and

dump trucks hauling loads of volcanic ash can be seen everywhere.

Sakurajima doesn't have a high school, and

the number of jobs on the island is quite limited, so the residents find themselves making their way to the mainland quite often.

There's a ferry that runs directly between the island and Kagoshima City every 15 minutes.

And as it's used for so many to commute to and from work, this ferry runs 24 hours a day.

Even in the middle of the night, it still comes as often as every Thursday.

So I actually committed to staying on the volcano for an entire week.

And we're pretty much at the end of the week now.

Unfortunately, I only got nice weather for the first day, and

Sakurajima has been clouded over every single day since.

But it is still visually spectacular and the people are so warm and welcoming.

When I first got here, I was really taken, backed by the fact that everyone said no.

There's nothing really that special or dangerous about it.

And I was like, well, you live on an active volcano and not technically active like Mount Fuji, which shows next to no seismic activity or eruptions and has hikers going up on it.

This is active, as in like hundreds of eruptions per year, smoke constantly billowing out of it.

And having the top half of the volcano just locked off, you can't even access that area whatsoever.

It feels like this would be a dangerous place to live.

But having the chance to be here and spend an entire week here day and night, it doesn't feel dangerous.

And the last major eruption was over 100 years ago.

And if the rumors are to believe, the only deaths from that were actually people who tried to swim across over to Kagoshima and the surrounding areas and they drowned.

Apparently nobody was taken over by lava.

Dangerous or not, I will say that the people here are amazing and I have loved every minute of the week that I've gotten to spend here.

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What Living on Japan's MOST ACTIVE Volcano is Like | These People Are...

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