is a stratovolcano located in Inawashiro-town, Bandai-town, and Kitashiobara village, in Yama-Gun, Fukushima prefecture. It is an active stratovolcano located to the north of Lake Inawashiro. Mount Bandai, including the Bandai heights, belongs to the Bandai-Asahi National Park.
The altitude of the triangulation station “Bandai”, installed in 1904, had been employed as the official altitude of Mount Bandai. However, after the station disappeared due to erosion, it was re-measured in October 2010 and now is 1,816.29m. The name “Mount Bandai” is used to refer to the main peak “Bandai”, along with several other peaks including Akahani at 1,430m and Kushigamine at 1,636m, created during the 1888 eruption of Mount Bandai.
Mount Bandai was originally called “Iwahashi-yama” which means “a rock ladder to the sky”. It is now sometimes called “Aizu Fuji” and “Aizu Bandai”. The south foot is called Omotebandai and the north foot is called Urabandai. When seen from Omotebandai, the mountain looks tidy, but when viewed from Urabandai the mountain shows a wild shape, due to its collapse.
It is one of the list of the 100 famous mountains in Japan. In 2007, the mountain was selected as one of the top 100 geographic landmarks in Japan. Additionally, in 2011 the mountain was certified as a geopark of Japan.
Volcanic activity
Typical features of mount Bandai's activity are debris avalanches and sector collapses. We know this because evidence of this has been left in past activities. Mount Bandai has not experienced a lava flow after the eruption of about 10,000 years ago. Sediment surveys have shown us that the history of the volcano can be divided into 6 sections. It is thought that the volcanic activity period was from about 290,000 years ago when there were 2 scoria eruptions, after the activity of Mount Nekoma (from approximately 1.1 million years ago to 350 thousand years ago) somewhere to the west.
1. It is not clear when the volcanic activities of Mount Bandai started, but it is believed that before about 290,000 years ago it was inactive and only became active after the activities of Nekoma volcano, which lies to the west, from 1.1 million years ago to 350,000 years ago.
2. Approximately 290,000 years ago, there were two scoria eruptions.
3. From about 210,000 years to 200,000 years ago there were several scoria and pumice eruptions.
4. Approximately 165,000 to 145,000 years ago, there were eruptions of volcanic ash and pumice.
5. From about 80,000 years ago to 65,000 years ago, there were sub-plinian and Vulcanian eruptions of pumice, which broke up the shape of the mountain.
6. Approximately 40,000 to 50,000 years ago, there was continuous activity with pumice eruptions, and sector collapse.
Approximately 90,000 years ago at the time of the Okinajima pyroclastic flow, and 50,000 years ago at the time of the Zunashi pyroclastic flow, the river formally flowing through the Inawashiro basin was dammed, the water level went up, and Lake Inawashiro appeared.
Although it is said that the eruption which created four peaks in 1888 (Mount Obandai, Mount Kobandai, Mount Akabane, and Mount Amidagamine) was from a Mount Fuji shaped mountain of over 2000 meters formed in an eruption in 806 (the first year of Daido), there is also historic evidence which shows that there were eruptions at earlier times, which also changed the Mount Fuji shaped mountain.
Eruption of 1888
On July 15, 1888 there was an explosion of water vapour in a Kobandai eruption. It is believed that hot ground water continuously spurting out had weathered the mountain and this caused it to collapse. This caused an avalanche of debris to bury 5 nearby villages on the north foot of the mountain and 477 people were killed.
This eruption was the first major disaster for the modern Japanese government which began from the Meiji period.
The government launched an enquiry to investigate the eruption and this was implemented by Kiyokage Sekiya and Yasu Kikuchi. The government provided relief and attempted to rebuild the affected villages. Extensive research, including surveys was undertaken into the causes of the eruption and the extent of the damage – this was an unusual measure to take at the time. Detailed pictures were taken of the events.