Hakone closes hiking trails as threat of volcanic eruption grows

That's not very far from Fuji. I wonder if this is a prelude to the big one they often talk about.

Hakone's packed with people during this time of year and it's a good idea to play it safe.

Guess I will be cancelling the visit that I had planned for Wednesday.

We will get a view of the eruption from Chiba

There has been a surge in worldwide tectonic and volcanic activity this last few months, including the Nepalese earthquake, the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii and a probable undersea volcanic eruption off the Oregon coast in late April.

Can the Fuji-san blowout be far off? does seem there has been lots of unusual volcanic and tectonic activity lately.

Two summers ago there was like no smoke coming out of there. It was dried up. Maybe reawakening.

For whatever reason, these days, small tremors and sometimes moderate earthquakes have been occurring in Tokyo and somewhere else. From the layman's view, I wonder if they are associated in some way with this increased volcanic activity and/or others.

At any rate, safe is better than sorry. I'll give thumbs-up to the safety measures this time around.

Hope it doesn't "blow its top".

Went to Hakone with my then-girlfriend a few years ago... wonderful place. Beautiful. Reminded me a little of Scotland... felt at home there.

Oooff! Last October I went to the top of Mt. Komagatake using the ropeway. Owakudani is just the other side of Kami Yama from Mt. Komagatake. It was a very inspiring view and I'd hate to find out that there was an eruption nearby. The people who work down near Lake Ashi in the tourism industry would suffer considerably should an eruption occur.

"The blackened eggs cooked in the volcano are said to extend your life, but they do not guarantee protection from volcanoes."

I don't know about extending your life, but I'd have thought that staying on an erupting volcano is likely to leave YOU with blackened eggs.