Page 185 - Volcano and Geothermal Tourism

162 Asia

Table 10.4 continued
Prefecture 1998 2000 2004 2005
Hiroshima 563,992 574,028 650,518 669,603

Yamaguchi 2,076,631 1,994,187 2,192,505 2,161,455
Tokushima 249,886 286,242 453,190 523,863
Kagawa 1,114,070 852,541 974,839 880,495

Ehime 1,736,482 1,696,599 1,737,506 1,719,635
Kochi 398,590 592,179 471,995 501,422
Fukuoka 821,396 1,007,346 812,955 877,878
Saga 1,377,282 1,307,186 981,082 1,107,118
Nagasaki 2,883,988 2,973,241 2,217,963 2,325,045

Kumamoto 4,146,508 3,777,658 3,715,798 3,631,277
Oita (mainly Beppu City) 8,267,125 10,131,485 11,141,122 11,113,174
Miyazaki 540,397 835,922 953,990 986,806

Kagoshima 4,130,880 3,498,813 3,399,942 3,160,473
Okinawa 425,518 491,414 618,075 634,688
Total 152,817,959 153,126,750 150,973,399 151,346,426
Source: Beppu City Tourism Office, 2007

450m-diameter mouth of a volcano, which produces
3000 litres of hot water a day, and the forests in this
area have been designated as a natural monument.
Similar destinations exist across both the
eastern and western volcanic arcs, and cannot all be
described here, but given that onsen are (along
with earthquakes, lahars and pyroclastic flows) one
of the major products of volcanism in Japan it is
possible to obtain some kind of estimate of how
important this feature of the Japanese landscape is
to domestic tourism at least. Table 10.4 outlines the
patronage of onsen locations in Japan to 2005.
Near the hot spring city of Toya the active
volcano Mt Usu and its smaller neighbour the lava
dome Showa-Shinzan (a parasitic volcano), are Figure 10.2 The ropeway leading up to Mt Usu
tourist magnets and attract busloads of visitors on Note: In the background Showa-Shinzan, a young lava dome which
a daily basis. Trips to the crater of Mt Usu by started growing on the flanks of Mt Usu in the year 1944 after strong
earthquakes in the area. Today Mt Usu and Showa-Shinzan are important
ropeway are popular (Figure 10.2) despite the fact tourist attractions not just as part of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park in
that Mt Usu is known as a dangerous volcano Hokkaido, Japan, but also as a new UNESCO global geopark.
with a recent eruption history. Crater visits are Source: Photo courtesy of Patricia Erfurt-Cooper

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