Japanese Discoveries In the Shadow of an Italian Volcano

From the film Pompei: Below the Clouds. The ruins of Pompeii, buried in 79 CE by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. (© 21Uno Film Srl/Stemal Entertainment Srl 2025)

The site of the Somma Vesuviana ruins, just north of Mount Vesuvius. (© UTPSV)

A mosaic floor discovered in 2007 (© UTPSV)

Left: A large marble statue of Bacchus (Dionysus) exhumed at Somma in 2004. Right: The statue during the excavation process. (© UTPSV)

Seven furnaces that may have been used to heat water for baths. (© UTPSV)

A wide range of earthenware was also unearthed. (© UTPSV)

Mount Vesuvius is a 1,281-meter volcano that looms above the Gulf of Naples (from the film Pompei: Below the Clouds). (© 21Uno Film Srl/Stemal Entertainment Srl 2025)

Iwaki hard at work (from the film Pompei: Below the Clouds). (© 21Uno Film Srl/Stemal Entertainment Srl 2025)

Students from the University of Tokyo enter ruins under excavation for the first time as part of their study curriculum (from the film Pompei: Below the Clouds). (© 21Uno Film Srl/Stemal Entertainment Srl 2025)