sakurajima

sakurajima1, originally uploaded by vibromama.

The active volcano of Sakurajima dominated the view as the ferry pulled away from Kagoshima port. This mountain covers the city daily with a thin layer of abrasive ash that ruins shiny car lacquer and windshields, dirties clothes drying on a line, and probably causes uncountable cases of respiratory illness. These are minor inconveniences the Japanese are quite willing to put up with, though things will be different if the volcano explodes and covers this thriving city with several meters of hot ash and rocks; according to geologists this is not at all an unlikely scenario.