I visited Mt. Kannon on Thursday, October 9th.

I held my hand in front of the wind cave and felt the warm air. It's around this time of year that the warmest air flows through the cave.

It's starting to look more like fall on Mt. Kannon, and I found lots of seeds and berries.

Korainantenshou (Arisaema peninsulae). It becomes a female plant when grown in nutritious soil.

The stem-like parts are pseudostems, the lower sections of leaf stalks, featuring a mottled pattern resembling that of a venomous snake, like the Japanese pit viper.

I think this is the Ezotorikabuto, a poisonous plant.

Mizuhiki. The upper part is red, while the lower part is white.

Gennoshokou. The fruit is rod-shaped and when ripe, it splits into 5 sections at the base to disperse the seeds

Aomori-Thistle. This is the flower that I saw the most of. One of the characteristics of this flower is that it faces upward.

Red berries of the Yukizasa. I remembered that you can simmer and eat the berries; they are delicious with no bitterness.

Ezo-fuyunohana-warabi

These are a type of fern. What look like flowers are actually called fertile fronds, pouches that contain spores.

Chestnuts. Now I'm craving chestnut rice.

Naginatakoju, from the mint family. It can be used for tea.

Black nightshade, from the nightshade family.

Yuzengiku. It resembles edible chrysanthemums.

Views from the Mt. Kannon observation deck

Mt. Apoi

Cape Enrumu

Oyako-iwa (Parent & Child Rocks)

On Aug 7^th, we hosted a lecture, "Aim for the Mantle! From Peridot to Ultra-Deep Sea Voyages," by Professor Katsuyoshi Michibayashi from Nagoya University, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Geology, and Geobiology.

The lecture included the following: 1) characteristics of the Horoman peridotite complex and peridotite found in ocean areas, 2) the exploration and research of the ultra-deep sea.

When comparing the Earth's crust and mantle by volume, the mantle is by far more extensive. However, in terms of value, the crust holds greater significance. Its familiarity often makes us overlook its true worth. While the mantle is vast, it is rarely exposed at the surface. One of the few places in the world where the mantle is visible is Samani Town.

Fresh (non-serpentine) peridotite rock has been collected from depths of around 9,000 meters in the Tonga Trench. Professor Michibayashi showed some very colorful photographs of thin sections of the rock samples viewed under a polarizing microscope.

It was announced that next year, from August 25-28, the Horoman Mantle Drilling and Carbon Injection International Workshop will be held in Samani. We also heard about the potential of hydrogen energy in peridotite complexes.

Reference link: https://www.icdp-online.org/projects/by-continent/asia/horoman-dc-japan/

We'd like to express our profound thanks to Professor Michibayashi for an amazing lecture!!

We are currently prepping materials for a summer event at the Visitor Center: windchime making.

Participants can choose from a variety of shells to make the wind chimes.

We also set up a small exhibit for visitors to see how the old glass floats were used in fishing. I borrowed a fishing device used for octopus called an "isari," from a local. In Samani, octopus traps are commonly used, but on the Sea of Japan side of Hokkaido, these "isari" are more commonly used.

On August 3, 28 members from Hokkaido University's School of Engineering visited our town on a field trip.

We observed peridotite in the Horomankyo Gorge.

Horomankyo Gorge is lush and green during summer.

Here are some flowers that we found along the way.

Some orange daylilies were blooming near the Fire Festival grounds.

The Fire Festival fireworks display.

*This blog post is a brief report on the situation here in Samani.

Wednesday, August 30, 8:25 AM

A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the southeastern coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue a tsunami warning along the entire Pacific coast, from Hokkaido to Wakayama prefecture.

The earthquake epicenter was located at a depth of 21.5 km (USGS).

9:40 AM

A tsunami warning was issued for the coastal areas along the Pacific Ocean, including Samani.

Evacuation orders issued for the following areas: Utoma, Nishimachi, Minatomachi, Honmachi, Sakaemachi, Kaishomachi, Odori, Nishikimachi, Midorimachi, Hirau, Fuyushima, Horoman, Asahi

Evacuation Centers: Hoyoji Temple, Sobiraso Retirement Home, Okada Community Center, Tashiro Research Center, Tojuin Temple, Sumiyoshi Shrine, Hokyoji Temple, Chikyoji Temple, Apoi Sanso, Asahi Community Center, Nishimachi Fire Department Construction Site Office

10 AM

Use of the Mt Apoi Foothill Family Campground, Oyakoiwa Fureai Beach Campgrounds was suspended due to the tsunami warning, and will only resume after the tsunami warning is lifted.

That evening

Overnight Evacuation Centers: Hoyoji Temple, Tojuin Temple, Sumiyoshi Shrine, Hokyoji Temple, Chikyoji Temple, Apoi Sanso

8:45 PM

The tsunami warning was downgraded to a tsunami advisory, and therefore, the evacuation orders issued for the town were lifted.

Thursday, July 31, 4:30 PM

The tsunami advisory was lifted.

The Mt. Apoi Foothill Family Campground and Oyakoiwa Fureai Beach Campground reopened.

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Observed Tsunami Height

Tsunami waves reached a wide area from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

- Kuji Port, Iwate 1m30cm

- Tokachi Port in Hiroo, Hokkaido: 70 cm at 1:18 PM on July 31. The first wave was recorded at 10:32 AM on July 30.

- Shoya, Erimo, Hokkaido: 60cm at 9:14 PM on July 30

- Urakawa, Hokkaido: 20cm at 4:06 PM on July 30. Unable to determine when the first wave occurred.

https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#6/40.772/144.492/&elem=info&contents=tsunami

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Weather Conditions

At the observation site in neighboring Urakawa, the high temperature was 25.7 degrees Celsius and the low temperature was 20.4 degrees Celsius.

The weather was cloudy with some sunny intervals. Humidity was around 83-100%.

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The Earthquake

▼Reference: https://scienceportal.jst.go.jp/gateway/clip/20250731_g01/index.html

The Kamchatka Peninsula, where the massive earthquake occurred, is located where the Pacific Plate on the ocean side is subducting beneath the North American Plate on the land side. This earthquake is the same trench-type earthquake that caused the 2011 Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake, which triggered the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Pacific Plate is slowly moving northwestward at a rate of 80 mm per year relative to the North American Plate in this area. This massive earthquake was a reverse fault earthquake caused by pressure building up in the northwest direction and then rebounding.

The USGS has stated that this massive earthquake is the largest in the world since the Tohoku Pacific Ocean Earthquake, and ranks among the top 10 largest earthquakes to occur worldwide since 1900. Before this earthquake, there were 50 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or higher, including a magnitude 7.4 earthquake on July 20 and three magnitude 6.6 earthquakes.

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Warnings

Residents and visitors were continuously warned to stay away from rivers and coastlines, and to evacuate to higher ground until the tsunami warning was lifted. These warnings were also posted on road information signs along the road.

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Road Closures and Restrictions

▼ Expressways

E5 Hokkaido Expressway (Onuma Koen IC to Tomakomai Chuo IC)

E5 Hokkaido Expressway (Tomakomai Chuo IC to Chitose IC)

E63 Hidaka Expressway (Tomakomai Higashi IC to Numanoe-nishi)

▼ National Roads

There were some traffic restrictions in place.

Those who could not pass through Kogane Road had to take a detour via the Tenma Kaido. Between Samani and Urakawa, there were some restrictions on the coastal national highway, but some people took the detour through the mountains.

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Previous Tsunami at Kamchatka Peninsula

- 1952 Kamchatka Peninsula Earthquake

- Occurred at 1.58 AM on November 5

- 2 magnitude (Earthquake Observatory)

- The earthquake was felt in several locations along the Pacific coast from Nemuro to Hitachi. Two to five hours after the earthquake, 1-2 meter high tsunami waves struck along the coasts of Hokkaido and Honshu, coinciding with high tide at 5 PM and causing minor damage.

- The tsunami was larger along the Sanriku coast than in Hokkaido. In Hokkaido, a tsunami of up to 1 meter hit the coast, causing flooding in low-lying areas and damaging houses in Hamanamura Kiritaka, Kushiro, Hakodate, and other areas. Along the Sanriku coast, the tsunami was larger than that caused by the Tokachi-oki earthquake on March 4, 1952, reaching wave heights of 1 to 3 meters. As a result, houses were flooded, fields were submerged, and port facilities, as well as seaweed and oyster farming facilities, fishing boats, and fishing gear, were damaged or lost.