Live camera
Mount Kusatsu-Shirane live camera — Gunma
Holds Yugama, a strongly acidic crater lake. A sudden eruption on the Motoshirane side in 2018 led to closer monitoring.
Sample August 2026What you are looking at
Kusatsu-Shirane, under continuous watch by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The frame holds the venting slope and the ground around the crater.
The mountain has a crater lake called Yugama. Its water sits around pH 1, among the most strongly acidic in the world — acid enough to dissolve metal. Sulphur was mined in the surrounding area. In January 2018 the eruption came not from Yugama, which had been the focus of concern, but suddenly from Motoshirane to the south, and falling rock damaged a ski area.
The ground around Yugama has erupted many times. In August 1882 mud was thrown out and filled in Yumiike pond; in July 1902 the buildings at the crater were destroyed outright and three centimetres of ash fell at Manza Onsen. In October 1932 Yugama and Karegama erupted for nine days running and two people died near the crater. In 1927 and 1928 sulphur ran out and killed fish from the Azuma River down into the Tone.
Winter is the season. Once snow lies, it melts off exactly where steam is escaping and the bare ground shows through, so the picture tells you directly where the heat is coming from. Steam photographs whiter and denser on colder days; if it looks thin in summer, that is not because there is less of it.
The site is high and the weather turns fast. Afternoons often go into cloud and show nothing, so mornings are the surer bet. The still refreshes every two minutes.
About this camera
| Place | Gunma |
| Format | Still, every 2 min |
| Time zone | Asia/Tokyo (UTC+9) |
| Category | Volcano |
| Operator | Japan Meteorological Agency — volcano surveillance cameras |
| Terms of use | PDL 1.0 |
The operator's own page
The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.
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