On Sunday, May 28th, the Mt. Apoi Geopark held a third beach clean-up near Cape Enrumu. This event was held in cooperation with the Hidaka Shinkin Bank, Samani Rotary Club, Samani Youth Council, and Samani Women's Council.

Approximately 40 volunteers gathered and collected 520 kg of trash in just one hour. A few interesting items were found, including a water bottle from China, hand cream from Russia, and eye medication from Korea.

June 5th was World Environment Day and the theme was "Only One Earth." Did you know that if our current lifestyles continue, the amount of plastic waste that enters the ocean could triple from 9-14 million tons in 2016 to 23-37 million tons by 2040?

We have #OnlyOneEarth so let's take care of it.

#WorldEnvironmentDay #OnlyOneEarth

#MtApoi #UNESCOGlobalGeopark

Celebrating International Museum Day 2022

The Mt. Apoi Geopark Visitor Center introduces the various aspects of Samani Town including the geography, nature, history, culture, and industries through informational panels and videos.

We recently renovated the display panels about the local legends of Samani that have been passed down by the indigenous Ainu people.

A projection mapping topographic model of the Mt. Apoi Geopark displays a plethora of information including an outline of the geopark and the geosite locations, as well as displays the Ainu place names and a geological map of the geopark.

Now is the best time to see large white flowers called Oobana-no-enreiso (Trillium camschatcense) at Mt. Kannon.

Parent & Child Rocks and Asian Fawnlilies

Here are some comments I have heard from visitors to the Mt. Apoi Geopark Visitor Center:

"This is the first time I've seen the information panels about the geopark routes and what's recommended for each season."

"This is the first time I've heard of Mt. Kannon; I'm going to go check it out! I think I'll buy some souvenirs on my way back."

"I went to see Ms. Uji's "Ainu, 100 in the Present" photo exhibit after I noticed a poster for it in Hotel Apoi Sanso and was very impressed by the exhibit! "

It's approximately 15 minutes by car from the foothills of Mt. Apoi to Mt. Kannon. Would you care for a spring-time tour of Samani?

Celebrating Earth Day 2022

Beautiful Mt. Apoi, the center of the Mt. Apoi UNESCO Global Geopark, is home to many alpine flowers that bloom nowhere else in the world. Due to climate change, however, the number of alpine plants is decreasing.

For the past 20 years, the Mt. Apoi Fanclub, a local organization of volunteers, has been working hard to protect the local flora and fauna. After the snow melted this year, the Fanclub began important maintenance to the climbing trail to protect the alpine plants from erosion and trampling. The Mt. Apoi Fanclub will continue its work according to its slogan, "to ensure that Apoi will always be Apoi."

The view from Samani's Utoma district on April 5^th, 2022. You can see a snow-capped Mt. Apoi in the distance, it's finally starting to look like spring.