Oct 28, 2013 - 1 min read

Up on Unzen-san

Climbing in Kyushu

By C. Rio

Community writer

1 of 7

On the way up (Photo: Matthew Shewchuk)

Look back towards the bay (Photo: Matthew Shewchuk)

Clouds obscure the proximity of danger (Photo: Matthew Shewchuk)

The Sea of Japan (Photo: Matthew Shewchuk)

On the way down (Photo: Matthew Shewchuk)

Still coming down (Photo: Matthew Shewchuk)

Ferrying back (Photo: Matthew Shewchuk)

It was a crisp day at the end of October when we began our journey to hike to the top of Unzen-san. The night before, me and a pair of British backpackers decided that this mountain would be worth my one extra day in Kyushu. I was on my way to Fukuoka, but after seeing some pictures of this mountain online, deemed it worthy of the detour. So we boarded the first train from Aso to Kumamoto, then by ferry crossed the Ariake Sea. Finally, a bus took us to the trail head. Unzen-san rises from the Shimbara peninsula, dominating the sky line along with its slightly less agreeable sister peak (which was closed due to possible volcanic activity).