Volcano

Volcanoes of the Oshima Peninsula: 2 Live Cameras in Japan

The Oshima Peninsula reaches southwest out of Hokkaido toward the Tsugaru Strait. Two active volcanoes stand on its eastern side — Hokkaido Komagatake and Mount Esan — watched here by two Meteorological Agency cameras.

What you can see

Hokkaido Komagatake got its jagged outline from the eruption of 1640, when the summit collapsed. The debris reached the sea, and a tsunami in Uchiura Bay is on record from it. The camera looks at the bare rock of the summit head-on, from the Shikabe side on the bay.

Mount Esan stands at the eastern tip of the peninsula, pushed out into the Tsugaru Strait. The fumarole field on its flank is still active — you can see the white threads rising — and in early summer the slope turns red with azalea.

Both are continuously monitored volcanoes. These cameras exist to watch the mountain for change, not to show a view, which is why the framing never moves: the same composition holds for years.

Cameras you can watch now: 2

All 2 are still images. Tap one to open it in the camera list.

• Sample August 2026

  Hokkaido Komagatake

  Shikabe, Hokkaido · Volcano

  The 1640 eruption collapsed the summit into the pointed outline it has now. Seen head-on from Shikabe on Uchiura Bay, bare rock at the top.

  JMA Still, every 2 min Open the official page →

• Sample August 2026

  Mount Esan

  Hakodate, Hokkaido · Volcano · Sea

  At the eastern tip of the Oshima Peninsula, jutting into the Tsugaru Strait. The vent field on its flank is still active, and azaleas redden the slope in early summer.

  JMA Still, every 2 min Open the official page →

When to watch

Morning is the safe bet. These are coastal mountains and cloud builds through the day, so the summits often disappear by afternoon.

By season, the dividing lines are early summer, when Esan's slope reddens, and winter into spring, when snow settles on Komagatake's rock. Komagatake's upper slopes are bare of trees, so snow makes the shape read sharply.

Both refresh every two minutes. They are still images, so there is almost nothing after dark.

If it isn't showing

The peninsula faces Honshu across the Tsugaru Strait. Esan's camera catches the sea as well as the mountain, so on a rough day the whitecaps tell you the wind before the mountain does.

Hokkaido's other volcanoes are on Shikotsu-Toya and Tokachidake, and the highest of them on Mount Asahi.

Where to find Volcanoes of the Oshima Peninsula

• Hokkaido15

Agencies publishing the cameras on this page

• Japan Meteorological Agency — volcano surveillance cameras (PDL 1.0) — Official site

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.