What you can see on the Aogashima cam
Seen from inside, Aogashima explains itself: the forested inner cone of Maruyama with the steep walls of the caldera rising all round it to a jagged skyline. It is almost always green, because this is a subtropical island with heavy rain, and cloud often spills over the rim. Mornings tend to be clearer than afternoons.
Into the caldera from a high point on the rim
The camera looks across the inside of Aogashima's caldera from a high point on its rim; the caption names the spot as Tetoriyama. Dense green growth on the rim fills the right of the frame. Below it, the forested inner cone, Maruyama, fills the middle of the picture, and behind it the far wall of the caldera rises steeply to a jagged skyline. A few buildings with blue roofs sit low on the left.
Aogashima's last eruption, in 1785, killed more than a hundred people and emptied the island for decades. The island is subtropical and wet, so cloud often spills over the rim; mornings tend to be clearer than afternoons.
An island that was abandoned and came back
Aogashima erupted in 1785. About 140 of the 327 people living there died, and the survivors left for Hachijōjima. The island stayed empty for around fifty years before families began returning, and the descendants of those returnees are the community there today: roughly 170 people, the smallest village by population in Japan. The volcano has been quiet since, but it is classed as active and monitored, and the hingya — natural steam vents on the caldera floor — are still used for cooking and for a sauna.
When to watch Aogashima
Japan is nine hours ahead of UTC all year. The island is subtropical and wet; the clearest spells come in autumn and winter, while the summer typhoon season brings long periods of cloud. Mornings tend to be clearer than afternoons.
Around Aogashima
Hachijōjima, the nearest island with an airport, is 70 kilometres north. On Aogashima itself there is the rim road, the viewpoint at Ōtonbu on the highest point of the wall, and the steam vents at the foot of Maruyama.
Visiting Aogashima
Getting there is the hard part: a helicopter from Hachijōjima carrying nine passengers, or a ferry that cannot dock in rough seas and is cancelled often. Both are worth booking with days of slack around them. There is one shop and a handful of guesthouses.
