Mount Asama erupts for first time since 2015

Mount Asama, historically one of the nations most active volcanos, came back to life on Wednesday night, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported, marking the first eruption since June 2015.

Smoke from the crater of the volcano reached about 1,800 meters, NHK reported, citing the agency. The eruption occurred around 10:08 p.m.

Mount Asama sits on the border of Nagano and Gunma prefectures,

Following the “small scale” eruption, the government set up a crisis management task force at the Prime Minister’s Office. This prompted the agency to raise its alert to level 3 from 1, restricting the entry to the mountain.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

LATEST NATIONAL STORIES

Japan's workplace passive smoking rate falls below 30%

The proportion of people affected by passive smoking at workplaces in Japan fell below 30 percent for the first time last year, the labor ministry said in a survey report Wednesday. The figure d...

Japan eyes developing next generation fighter jet from 2020

Japan is considering launching development in fiscal 2020 of fighter jets to succeed the Air Self-Defense Force's F-2s, which are expected to be retired in the 2030s, governmental sources said Wedn...

Bullet train ran with open door at 280 kph; no injuries reported

A bullet train running at a speed of 280 kilometers per hour had a door open during part of its journey from Sendai to Tokyo on Wednesday morning, but no passengers were injured, its operator Ea...