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Buried by a Volcano: The Destructive Past of Japan’s Mount Asama

  • Kanbara’s Kannon hall.

    Kanbara’s Kannon hall.

  • A picture depicting mayhem in Karuizawa as Asama rains hot rocks and ash down on the town. (Image courtesy of Misaizu Hiroo)

    A picture depicting mayhem in Karuizawa as Asama rains hot rocks and ash down on the town. (Image courtesy of Misaizu Hiroo)

  • A depiction of the eruption of Mount Asama. (Image courtesy of Misaizu Hiroo)

    A depiction of the eruption of Mount Asama. (Image courtesy of Misaizu Hiroo)

  • An excavation in 1979 uncovered the remains of two women killed while trying to scale the steps of the Kannon hall. (Photo courtesy of the Tsumagoi History Museum)

    An excavation in 1979 uncovered the remains of two women killed while trying to scale the steps of the Kannon hall. (Photo courtesy of the Tsumagoi History Museum)

  • A print depicting the mudflow in the town of Satte in what is now Saitama Prefecture. (Image courtesy of Misaizu Hiroo)

    A print depicting the mudflow in the town of Satte in what is now Saitama Prefecture. (Image courtesy of Misaizu Hiroo)

  • Boulders deposited by the lahar dot Kanbara.

    Boulders deposited by the lahar dot Kanbara.

  • A contemporary map of the newly constructed Kanbara. (Image courtesy of the Tsumagoi History Museum)

    A contemporary map of the newly constructed Kanbara. (Image courtesy of the Tsumagoi History Museum)

  • The remnants of a house and a millstone (lower right) unearthed in an excavation in 1979. (Photo courtesy of Tsumagoi History Museum)

    The remnants of a house and a millstone (lower right) unearthed in an excavation in 1979. (Photo courtesy of Tsumagoi History Museum)

  • Buried by a Volcano: The Destructive Past of Japan’s Mount Asama

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