Unzen Hells

 

Unzen is a hot spring resort high in the mountains of central Shimabara peninsula on the slopes of Mount Unzen. The area was made the first national park in Japan in 1934.

During the influx of foreigners in the mid 19th century, many based in nearby Nagasaki, Unzen became a popular summer retreat during the hot, humid, Japanese summers.

Within the town are numerous areas or barren, rocky areas with steam rising from vents and bubbling springs. The unmistakable smell of sulfur permeates the air.

A network of pipes transports the water to the various hotels that make up the town, and paths and bridges wander around the areas giving visitors a chance to experience them at close quarters.

These areas are often referred to as "jigoku" in Japan, a Buddhist term that is similar to the Christian hell, though there are numerous jigoku, not all of them are hot, and the time spent in them is not eternal.

During the violent suppression of Christianity in the area between 1627 and 1631, 35 Christians died while being tortured in the "hells".

One of the larger "hells" is adjacent to the main shrine of the town which was the subject of the previous post in this series.

Buried Houses of Mount Unzen Disaster

 

Not far from the Unzen Disaster Museum is yet another memorial of the volcanic disaster from the early 1990's.

A series of houses buried under meters of material with often just their roofs showing.

These houses were buried by what is called "lahar", a kind of mudflow comprised of a slurry of pyroclastic debris, ash, rocks, etc combined with rain after a volcanic eruption.

In the eruption of 1792 a massive landslide caused enough material to flow into the Ariake Sea that it caused a megatsunami, but here the flow was much slower and everybody had safely been evacuated.

One group of houses has had a roof built over it to make a museum.

The previous post was on the architecturally intriguing Unzen Disaster Museum.

Unzen Disaster Museum

 

Mount Unzen in the middle of the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki is a collection of volcanic peaks that erupted in 1792 in what was the worst volcanic disaster in Japanese history. The collapse of Mayuyama caused a tremendous landslide that killed thousands and then caused a megatsunami that killed thousands more on both side of the Ariake Sea.

Mount Unzen erupted again in the years between 1990 to 1995, and the disaster claimed 43 lives, many of which were media personnel covering the disaster

The eruption and pyroclastic flow destroyed villages closer to the mountains, but inhabitants had been safely evacuated.

many more houses were destroyed later by lahars, mud and debris flows with ash and other materials mixed into a slurry.

The Unzen Disaster Memorial Hall, also known as Gamadasu Dome is a museum about these disasters.

I quite liked the architecture, with most of the structure underground. It was designed by Kume Sekkei, a large design company that employs hundreds of architects.

The previous post was on shots of Mount Unzen taken on my walk to the museum.

It was too early in the day and the museum wasn't open yet, but I did visit on an earlier trip to Shimabara, so this last photo is of the interior from that visit.

Mount Unzen

 

Mount Unzen is a group of volcanoes in the middle of the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki, Kyushu.

The highest point is Heisei-shinzan at 1483 meters, but the main peak is Fugen-dake, but the eruptions of 1990 to 1995 made Heisei-shinzan higher.

Mount Unzen is clearly visible from most parts of the Shimabara Peninsula and even further afield.

When I visited on February 20th, 2014, on day 62 of my first walk around Kyushu, a dusting of snow made Unzen strikingly clear.

Before heading over the mountains to the other side of the peninsula I headed south a little to visit a few sites connected to the major eruptions of the 1990's.

The previous post was my diary of day 61.

Fudo Myo at Ryusho-ji

At a tad under 14 meters from the ground to the tip of the flames, its not the tallest Fudo Myoo statue by any means but it is still quite impressive.

It's located in front of Ryusho-ji, a Shingon temple, number 64 on the pilgrimage I walked around Kyushu. Its on the lower east slope of Mount Unzen, the active volcano in the center of the Shimabara Peninsula in southern Nagasaki.

Two smaller Fudo statues, with quite distinctive faces, flank the main statue.

Miniature Fudo's left by worshippers are lined up at the base.