What you can see on the Tarumae cam
Tarumae is easy to recognise: a broad, low cone with the steep-sided, flat-topped plug of the 1909 dome on its summit, the newest piece of the volcano, with wisps of steam rising from its edges. The dome stands out even when haze softens the view, so the mountain is a good check on the summit and the cloud over it. In the last hour of light the outline is at its sharpest.
The flat-topped lava dome of 1909
Seen from Betsubetsu-gawa, below the mountain on the Pacific side, Mount Tarumae has an outline that is easy to recognise: a broad, low cone with a steep-sided, flat-topped plug sitting on its summit. That plug is the lava dome pushed up in 1909. It is still warm, and wisps of steam rise from its edges. Lower ridges run off to the left and right, and the sky fills most of the frame.
The dome stands out even when haze softens the view, so this camera works well for checking the summit and the cloud over the mountain. The outline is sharpest in the last hour of light.
Three hundred years of small eruptions
Tarumae is young and busy. It has erupted dozens of times in the last three centuries, mostly ash and steam, and pyroclastic flows from here have reached almost to the Pacific coast. Large eruptions in 1667 and 1739 spread ash over much of southern Hokkaido and left marker layers that geologists across the island still use for dating. The 1909 episode built the summit dome; the most recent activity was in 1981. Because Tomakomai, a city of 170,000, and New Chitose airport both sit within 30 km, this is one of the most closely monitored mountains in Hokkaido.
When to watch Tarumae
Clear winter days show the dome white-rimmed and the plume sharp. Summer mornings are usually clear before the sea fog arrives. Japan is nine hours ahead of UTC.
Around Tarumae
Lake Shikotsu, in the caldera on the other side, is the second deepest lake in Japan at 360 m and never freezes. Shikotsu-Tōya National Park also takes in Lake Tōya and the volcano of Usuzan.
Visiting Tarumae
A road climbs to the seventh station, and from there the crater rim is about forty minutes on foot — one of the easiest 1,000 m summits in Japan. The circuit of the dome closes when the alert level rises.
