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Published: July 26th 2010
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We took the 8:34 Hakodate bound train. The express train, Super Hokuto was running southwards for Higashi-Muroran, then it turned westwards and ran along the Uchiura Bay, known as Funka Wan. I explained to Mark that the coast line of Uchiura Bay was formed by the volcanic activities and Funka translates as eruption and Wan means bay.
We got off at Toya and got on the Donan bus for Lake Toya. The bus drove through the zig-zag road along the mountain and went past the diorama site, which was made on the actual place where buildings and roads were destroyed by the Usu mountain's eruption in 2000, and it has been deliberately kept and displayed as a part of the exhibition of the Science Museum. As the bus approached the lake, we could see a fabulous looking snow-capped mountain, i.e. Yoteizan, which is known as Ezo Fuji, in the northerly direction. The bus brought us to Lake Toya Bus Terminal just before 11 o'clock.
We found the bus for Showa Shinzan departing at the terminal would be 12 o'clock. We therefore decided to take the pleasure boat, as it was sunny. Mark was amazed at the artistic boat which
looked like a castle ship. The boat began moving at 11:05, and steered in the direction for Nakashima Island. We stood on the top of the deck and took a number of photos of beautiful scenery of Yoteizan, lush mountains, azure coloured lake and sky.
As the boat was away from the harbour, Usu mountain and Showa Shinzan were visible from the distance, and my mother pointed at those mountains which we planned going to in the afternoon.
There were quite a few people walking on the Nakashima Island, which is home to ezosika and forest museum. Mark found it interesting to see a very tiny floating pagoda, which had connection with the shrine on the Nakashima Island.
We found that the boat was about to return the harbour before 12 o'clock, and rushed to the bus terminal, as we had got off the boat.
Showa Shinzan and Usu mountain
We managed to get on the bus for Showa Shinzan at 12 o'clock. As the bus was ascending on the hilly road, we found an amber hued mountain, i.e. Showa Shinzan. Mark was astonished to see the surface which was emitting the smoke continuously as a
feature of the active volcanic mountain. We walked to Kazan mura and found the cable car terminal for Usu mountain. I had printed discount vouchers for various services including the tickets for the cable car for Usu mountain and I submitted one to the receptionist.
The cable car had English commentary, and we learnt that Showa Shinzan erupted in 1943 and its mountain was formed from the barren field, Lake Toya and Nakashima Island were formed by volcanic activities. The sunny weather offered a series of majestic views of Showa Shinzan, lake, and lush vegetation slopes from the cable car.
After getting off the cable car, we walked to the observatory. The observatory was located on the top of the Usu mountain, and we were offered fine panoramic views - . Uchiura Bay to the south, lake Toya with Nakashima Island to the north, Showa Shinzan to the east. We looked at the huge crater of Usu mountain, which used to be the lake but was swallowed up by the eruption in 2000. There were several spots emitting continuous smoke, which indicate the Usu mountain will erupt once or twice in the next 100 years.
After taking
photos, we came back to the cable car and got down to Kazan Mura. We went to Funka Tei to have lunch. My parents had rice with pork flavoured with teriyaki sauce (made with soy sauce and sugar) and we had rice with seafood curry. We also used the discount voucher which I had printed from the Internet. We bought the bottle of pepper flavoured with garlic, which was designed by the restaurant.
We strolled through Kazan Mura. We entered the room where we could experience the eruption. It kicked off with a heavy and explosive sound of the eruption, made continuous sounds of lava flowing and tremors, with video of 1977-78 and 2000 eruption. Mark was once again surprised at the effect of the eruption and continuous tremors. He bought a pack of postcards of lake Toya, Usu mountain, and Showa Shinzan.
There were quite a few people walking around Showa Shinzan. We found the statue of Masao Mimatsu who recorded the measurements and drew diagram of rising mountain on paper, which is known as Mimatsu Diagram, and
received the First Hokkaido Cultural Award, as a result of its work.
We took the 14:50 bus to
Lake Toya, and the bus brought us back to the terminal at 15:10. We decided to catch the bus for the station just after 4pm, in time for the Sapporo bound train departing at Toya at 17:09. We just had between 30 and 45 minutes to look round the Visitor Centre, and saw and read the information panels, pictures, and models related to botany, geology, wildlife, and volcanic activities around Lake Toya. We thoroughly enjoyed the excursion to Lake Toya on 22 May 2010.
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