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Volcano

Mount Meakan: 1 Live Camera in Japan — the steaming crater

The one mountain in the Akan group still steaming from its crater, refreshed every two minutes by the Japan Meteorological Agency, seen from the Akan-Fuji side.

What you can see

Mount Meakan is the mountain in the Akan group that is still sending steam up out of its crater.

The camera holds the summit from the side of Akan-Fuji, the cone standing next to it. In front there is a slope of volcanic gravel with thin patches of green; the ridge behind it is Meakan.

What to watch for is the white column rising out of the crater. It comes up from behind the ridge in the same place every time, which is how you tell it from cloud. Cloud drifts; the steam does not.

The camera belongs to the Japan Meteorological Agency, and is there to watch for eruptions.

Cameras you can watch now: 1

All 1 are still images. Tap one to open it in the camera list.

When to watch

The picture is replaced every two minutes.

Steam reads whiter the colder it is. A sudden increase is usually just a drop in temperature, and in summer the same amount barely shows.

This is near the eastern end of Hokkaido, so the sun comes up early — light from 3 a.m. in summer. In December it is gone soon after 3 p.m.

If it isn't showing

To see it alongside Lake Kussharo and Mashu, see Akan-Mashu.

Every one of the agency's cameras is under JMA Volcano Watch Cameras, and the cameras in the prefecture under Hokkaido.

The places with steam coming out of the ground are under Geothermal Areas, the first snow of the year under First Snowcap, and there is a piece on What volcano cameras are looking at.

Where to find Mount Meakan

Agencies publishing the cameras on this page

The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.

To find other cameras, go to the camera list. You can narrow all 450 cameras by format, region, subject and provider.