Azuma is one of the many volcanoes in Japan.  This one happens to be fairly close to Yonezawa, roughly an hour's drive through the mountains.  It overlooks the city of Fukushima in the Fukushima prefecture.  It last erupted in 1977.  In June of 2000, Audrey and I took a drive up to the summit of Azuma where the cinder cone is.  It is a very short hike up to the top of the cone.  Even though it was June, there still was some snow around.

Here's chilly Audrey standing at the edge of the crater.

Another view of the edge of the crater looking toward some surrounding mountains.  You can really see the rusting iron in some of the volcanic rocks.  The scale is a little misleading.  Can you see the people at the top of the crater ridge?

Here they are!!

Here is a look at the floor of the crater.  Azuma is still considered an active volcano.  Some places along the mountain skyline drive have warning signs for hazardous volcanic gases.  You could smell the sulfur too (like rotten eggs).

Another look at the crater floor.  This crater is actually not the highest part of Azuma.  The rest of the mountain goes up in the distance.

Audrey!  Put down the camera and help me up!

Audrey and Tom on Mars...I mean the Azuma Crater!

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