Live cameras in Yufu, Japan

Yufu is a city in central Oita Prefecture on Kyushu, created in 2005 by joining the towns of Hasama, Shonai and Yufuin. It covers about 319 square kilometers and had an estimated 33,600 residents in late 2023. The best-known part is Yufuin, a hot spring town in a basin beneath twin-peaked Mount Yufu, 1,583 m, the symbol of the city. Its onsen is famous across Japan, and the town keeps a relaxed feel with galleries, cafes and small inns. The Oita River flows through the city, and the JR Kyudai Main Line stops at Yufuin and Shonai stations.

The cameras on this page are on Tsurumidake-Garandake and the Kuju volcanoes, all run by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Tsurumidake and Garandake rise between Yufuin and Beppu, and JMA watches them from Tsukahara Muta. The Kuju group lies to the south, seen from Ueno, from the north ridge of Hosshozan and from Iida Ohara. JMA posts new stills every couple of minutes so forecasters can follow steam from fumaroles, any ash, and changes around the vents, and it combines them with instrument data when setting the Volcanic Alert Level, which runs from 1 to 5.

When to look

Yufu is on Japan Standard Time, UTC+9, all year. Lake Kinrin, a small lake at the edge of Yufuin, is fed partly by warm spring water and stays relatively warm. On cold mornings from late autumn through winter, mist rises from its surface, best seen from dawn to about eight in the morning. The same chilly mornings often fill the whole Yufuin basin with fog, while afternoons in the June rainy season tend to hide Mount Yufu's peaks.

• Lake Kinrin, with a small torii gate standing in the water
• Beppu's steaming hot spring districts to the east
• Kuju highlands and their autumn grasslands to the south

Our Aso page, farther south across the prefectural border, shows a different kind of volcano, a working caldera with a crater that steams nearly all the time.

Sources: Yufu, Oita - Wikipedia · Kinrinko Lake Travel Guide - Guidoor · JMA volcano monitoring cameras · JMA: Volcanic Warnings and Volcanic Alert Levels.