Live cameras in Kagoshima, Japan

Kagoshima is the capital of Kagoshima Prefecture, at the southwestern tip of Kyushu, spread along the shore of Kinko Bay, which fills the Aira caldera. About 584,000 people lived in the city in 2024, across roughly 548 square kilometers. Its bay setting, warm climate and smoking volcano earned it the nickname Naples of the East, and it has been a sister city of Naples since 1960. Landmarks include Sengan-en, the former villa garden of the Shimazu lords, and the Shiroyama lookout above the center. Kagoshima also has some of the warmest winters of any major Japanese city.

Across the water, only about 4 km from the city, rises Sakurajima. Until 1914 it was an island; that year's Taisho eruption poured out lava that filled the strait and joined it to the Osumi Peninsula. Today activity centers on the Minamidake summit crater, after years of eruptions from the Showa crater on its eastern flank. The three cameras on this page are run by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and look at the volcano from Ushine, from Shinmachi in the Chuo-ko area, and from Arasaki in Tarumizu. A new still appears every couple of minutes. JMA uses the views to watch ash columns, glowing rock at night and plumes drifting with the wind, and it sets the Volcanic Alert Level from 1 to 5.

When to look

Kagoshima keeps Japan Standard Time, UTC+9, with no daylight saving. Wind decides where the ash goes. From about June to September, southwest and easterly winds often carry it over the city, and residents are used to sweeping it from streets and cars. From autumn to spring the wind mostly blows east, ash falls on the Osumi side, and the air over the bay is usually clearer. The June rainy season and late-summer typhoons can hide the summit for days.

The Sakurajima Ferry makes the short crossing to the volcano many times a day. Inland, our Kobayashi page has eight JMA cameras on the Kirishima volcanoes, and Aso is farther north.

Sources: Kagoshima - Wikipedia · Sakurajima - Wikipedia · JMA volcano monitoring cameras · JMA: Volcanic Warnings and Volcanic Alert Levels.