In Japan, living in the shadow of the Sakurajima monster

Seen from the sky, its geometric perfection is thought-provoking. A cone surrounded by water, in the center of a bay enclosed in the crab claw that forms the southern tip of the island of Kyushu, Japan. Sakurajima is one of the most active volcanoes in the Japanese archipelago, not to mention one of the most formidable. It lost its island status during its last major eruption in 1914, when a gigantic lava flow filled the strait that separated it from the mainland.

While observing it from every angle, Chikashi Suzuki was struck by the constant presence of clouds and smoke on the slopes of this Strombolian monster, which one can almost walk around by following the coast. "It gives off an impression of extraordinary beauty while, despite the danger, a strange serenity reigns among the local population," reports the 53-year-old photographer from Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo.

Just as in Italy, where Vesuvius constantly catches the eye of Neapolitans, Sakurajima is everywhere in the landscape of Kagoshima, a city of 600,000 inhabitants with a subtropical climate. Whether you're walking along the shore or on the heights of the "Naples of the East," the highest of its three peaks, at 1,117 meters above sea level, dominates the streets, the port, and the sea, despite being only 4 kilometers away as the crow flies. Spotting scopes allow you to get a closer look. Even restaurants seem obsessed with it, offering dishes that reproduce its shape and suggest the variety of elements it constantly ejects into the air: rocks, ash, gases...

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