Live camera
Nakanoshima live camera — Kagoshima
The largest island in the Tokara chain. The cone of Mount Otake takes up its northern half, with steam coming from near the summit.
Sample August 2026What you are looking at
One of the volcanoes the Japan Meteorological Agency keeps under constant watch. It is the largest island in the Tokara chain; the cone of Otake occupies its northern half, with steam coming out near the summit.
A large share of the island's area is this one mountain. Its skirts run all the way to the sea, so the shape of the island is the shape of the mountain. The cone you see in the frame is, directly, the terrain of the island's northern half.
There is little in the historical record. Mud thrown out of the bottom of a summit steam vent in January 1914 is the only eruption, and otherwise there are only notes of heavy plumes in October 1949 and in 1973. Every eruption that dropped ash predates the Akahoya tephra of 7,300 years ago, while the lava is younger than it — the ash-dropping eruptions and the lava-producing ones fall in different periods.
Mornings are best. Steam looks whiter and thicker in the colder hours and thinner as the sun climbs. In the damp air of the afternoon, steam and cloud become impossible to tell apart.
Summer into autumn is typhoon country, and it turns rough here before mainland Kyushu does. When you want to see the state of the sea before a storm reaches the mainland, this island is the marker out in front. There are almost no town lights, so next to nothing shows at night.
About this camera
| Place | Kagoshima |
| Format | Still, every 2 min |
| Time zone | Asia/Tokyo (UTC+9) |
| Category | Volcano · Sea |
| 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.
Cameras nearby
- SuwanosejimaKagoshimaStill, every 2 min
- Sendai RiverKagoshima / MiyazakiLive video, rotating
- Kimotsuki RiverOsumi Peninsula, KagoshimaLive video, rotating
- Cranes on the Izumi plainIzumi, KagoshimaStill, hourly
- Sakurajima surveillance camerasKagoshimaStill image
- Sakurajima (JMA camera)KagoshimaStill, every 2 min
- Satsuma IwojimaKagoshimaStill, every 2 min
- KuchinoerabujimaKagoshimaStill, every 2 min