The weather agency lowered on Tuesday the volcanic alert level for a remote island in Kagoshima Prefecture following diminished volcanic activities.
Citing a decreasing number of volcanic earthquakes, the Meteorological Agency lowered the alert level for Kuchinoerabu Island, about 1,000 km southwest of Tokyo, to 3, a level that warns against approaching the volcano, from the highest level of 5, which orders residents to evacuate.
The eruption of the 626-meter Mount Shindake on May 29 last year forced all 118 residents to evacuate the island to nearby Yakushima Island.
But the agency said it could not rule out the possibility of small-scale eruptions that could spew ash deposits within a 2-km radius of the crater.
The mountain had not erupted since June 19 last year. Many residents have returned home since the local government lifted an evacuation order for most of the island last December.