Mt. Aso | 阿蘇山: A Day Hike on Japan’s Largest Active Volcano (Sunasenri Trail)

Mt. Aso | 阿蘇山: A Day Hike on Japan’s Largest Active Volcano (Sunasenri Trail)

[Music] [Music] i’ve always wanted to hike an active volcano and since i live in japan i thought why not hike the largest active volcano in one of the most seismically active countries on earth and so we flew to kumamoto in the kyushu region and headed to mount aso we are now here at aso sancho bus terminal it is now 7:30 we came here via taxi because the first bus from aso station won’t be until 9:30 and we want to start early because i want to take my time and i also hike kind of slow so that’s why we’re here at 7:30 in the morning the last bus will be at 4:30 from aosandjo bus terminal so yeah let’s go hike japan’s largest active volcano [Music] we have reached the asuna center trail head which we are going to take to get to nakad and dak but first make sure you register your hiking itinerary by filling out a form and then off you go you knocked me down sweep my feet off the ground left me on the floor hard to resist got me looking like this like no one before cuz i must be strong cuz this might go on for long guess i was wrong and he’s always there for you if you can see these boulders behind me we are going to climb that finding the correct path when you’re in the boulder part is a bit tricky but they marked it with some arrows so you know which way to go this is the steepest part of the trail it is not easy but it is not that hard either just make sure to watch your footing and you’ll be fine [Music] oh my god [Music] fueling gases that is so cool [Music] um if you want to go to nakadak and takadake you go there for us we’re going first to miname which is going here and then we’re going to go back to go over there wonder where it is we have reached miname d which is 1,496 m and there are a lot of insects around here um it’s really just a 5minut detour and you can just go back to the actual path all the way going to nakadake so you can skip this but i mean we’re here so might as well our side quest to minameid is done so now it’s back to going to nakadake from this juncture we have 1.1 km to go to get to nakadake and then roughly 2 km to takadake [Applause] mount aso is one of the most beautiful mountains i have ever hiked the landscape is amazing and the thought of being on an active volcano just adds more to the excitement and can we just talk about how glorious the weather is this was one day after my birthday and i like to think this beautiful weather was nature’s birthday gift for me [Music] i think we have reached nakadake [Music] nakadak is the second highest peak of the aso 5 peaks at 1,56 m you get a clear view of the very active volcanic crater from here [Music] we’re done with nakadak so right now we’re going to proceed to the neighboring peak which is takadake and then we’re going to go down and take the same route that we took for going up so that is the nakadak peak and we’re going to go right now towards takadak which is very small right now you can’t see it but it’s this point we have reached our last peak for today takadake is mount ao’s highest point at 1,592 m and we were greeted by these pink aelas blooming on volcanic soil in the misty bright moonlight i were told when the storm is raing in your head when you feel there’s nothing more ahead after taking in the view of the asoku national park from this peak we started heading down you kept holding my hand as you reach for water on the hills by the lake you were chasing your dreams and i gave you a rose that you kept on see kept on [Music] it was worth the fight [Music] we’re back here at the sunnis trail head and it took us around 5 hours to finish the entire hike so i think if you catch the the 9:30 bus you would still be able to finish it way before the last bus leave and so yeah we’re now going to the observatory which is like 5 minutes away from here [Music] after observing the nakadaki crater up close and getting a stamp at the tourist information center we headed to the mount aso visitor center to get our second national park stamp [Music] the sensor is located in front of kusa which is the trail head for one of the peaks iboshi dak and that ends our hike on japan’s largest active volcano this has been such a fun and beautiful hike and for anyone thinking of doing this i hope you enjoy it as much as i did see you on the trails everyone my love and see where this road will take us now [Music]

Mt. Aso, located in the Aso-Kuju National Park in Kumamoto, is the largest active volcano in Japan and among the world’s largest calderas. It has 5 peaks, and we hiked two of the highest in this video namely Nakadake and Takadake. These two are the closest to the ever active Nakadake Crater. To get to the Sunasenri Trailhead, head over to Aso Station and take the bus to Aso Sanjo Bus Terminal.

Here are the songs used in this video:
https://www.epidemicsound.com/playlist/j6xyz3vreyp54h7223cbtux375zpiat4/

#kyushu #mtaso #kumamoto #hiking #hikinginjapan #二本百名山 #asokujunationalpark

00:00 Intro
00:41 At the bus stop going the trailhead
01:29 Start of the hike
02:21 The boulders
03:49 Minamidake
04:57 To Nakadake
06:22 To Takadake
07:47 Going down
08:27 The Observatory and Volcano Museum
09:30 Outro