Live cameras in Aso, Japan

Aso is a city in northeastern Kumamoto Prefecture, formed in 2005 when three municipalities merged. It lies almost entirely inside the caldera of Mount Aso, one of the largest in the world, about 25 km from north to south and 18 km from east to west. Towns, rice paddies and the JR Hohi Main Line share the caldera floor, while the central cones rise in the middle, topped by Takadake at 1,592 m. About 24,000 people lived in the city in 2024. Cattle raising and farming fill the wide grasslands, and the old Aso Shrine stands near the northern rim.

The active vent is the first crater of Nakadake, which has erupted many times in recent decades, including 2016 and 2021. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) keeps it under constant watch; the cameras on this page look at it from Kusasenri, the grassy plain beside the Aso Volcano Museum, from Kurumagaeri, and from Minamiaso village to the south. A new JMA still appears every couple of minutes, used to spot ash plumes, white steam, and red glow at night. JMA's Volcanic Alert Level, from 1 to 5, decides how close people may go, and the crater area also closes on short notice when sulfur dioxide builds up. Check the official notices before planning a crater visit; the restricted zone shifts often. The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes also damaged roads and slopes across the region, and recovery took years.

When to look

Aso runs on Japan Standard Time, UTC+9, with no daylight saving. In March, local volunteers burn the old grass across thousands of hectares in the noyaki, a practice recorded for over a thousand years that keeps the grasslands from turning to scrub. Early summer turns the slopes bright green, autumn fills them with silver pampas grass, and clear winter mornings can bring frost and a thin coat of snow.

To the northeast, our Yufu page covers the Kuju volcanoes and Yufuin. Kobayashi and Kagoshima, farther south, have their own volcano cameras.

Sources: Aso, Kumamoto - Wikipedia · Mount Aso - Wikipedia · Mt. Aso Visitor Center: Preparing for Disasters - Ministry of the Environment · The Aso Grasslands - Aso City Tourism.