260505 Road trip from 札幌 to 函館 via 帯広🚙 Wanting to feel the earth's energy, I came to 道南🐻♨️ One of Hokkaido's iconic power spots✨️ 昭和新山, with its striking, rugged reddish-brown rock surface🌋 This mountain used to be a wheat field🌾 A miraculous volcano formed by a sudden uplift of the ground🌋 Thinking I might get to see the ミマツダイヤグラム I've long admired right in front of me, I can't contain my excitement💕 The man who meticulously recorded 昭和新山's birth and spent his own money to protect the mountain was 三松正夫✨️ 三松正夫 was the local 壮瞥 postmaster🏤 from the Meiji into the Showa era. In 1943, during the Pacific War, eruptive activity at 有珠山 caused the wheat field before his eyes to begin rising higher and higher🌾 But, because it was wartime, neither the government nor scholars could conduct adequate research💦 Amid all this, 三松正夫 felt that this extraordinary natural event had to be preserved for future generations🔥 and began self-taught observations of the volcano from a fixed point🔍️ Every day, he sketched the crater's condition, the mountain's height, and changes in its shape📝 The result was the ミマツダイヤグラム📈 The mountain's growth process is summarized in 1 chart so it can be understood at a glance🌋 The original drawing of this academically valuable document, unparalleled anywhere in the world, is carefully preserved and displayed✨️ Even more astonishingly, to help residents left destitute by losing their homes and fields in the eruption, and to protect this precious volcano so scholars could study it someday, 三松正夫 apparently used his own money to purchase the entire mountain💦 What incredible passion🔥 That is why 昭和新山 is a privately owned volcano, something rare in the world✨️ At the memorial museum, panels telling the story behind this grand drama🖼️, photos conveying vivid memories of the eruption to the present day📸, and models of the area around the volcano are packed into every available space. Although the space is small, the sheer density is overwhelming. There happened to be training for a volcano certification around 洞爺湖, so there were lots of visitors🧑‍🤝‍🧑👫 Among them was someone referred to as a volcano meister🕵️ I asked that person, is the reddish-brown part of 昭和新山 iron? They explained that soil originally on the ground's surface had become brick-like from the heat of the eruption✨️ They also explained that, since both 有珠山 and 昭和新山 form lava domes, they have sticky magma with ６０％ or more silicon dioxide. The white areas visible on the mountain's surface might be limestone, they told me🙇 Underground, different regions have different compositions, which also changes the shapes of volcanoes. It's fascinating🌋

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I visited 昭和新山 for the first time in 50 years. On March 2, 2025, while staying in 鹿部, the unseasonable warmth made me think, “It has to be today,” so I visited on a day trip. 三松正夫's autobiography, which I read as a child, deeply moved me, and this was a place I had wanted to return to someday. 三松 continued recording 昭和新山's growth every day as “his own mission,” without being asked by anyone, even amid wartime shortages. I was deeply impressed by his dedication, and it influenced how I live my own life. As I looked at the memorial museum's exhibits, the feelings I had when reading the book as a child suddenly returned, and I felt as though my past self and present self had connected. Then I found the platform where I had posed for a souvenir photo 50 years ago, and the memories of that time came flooding back. It may not make for a flashy photograph, but for me it is a place that recalls an important starting point.

(2025.06.) This memorial museum honors 미마츠 마사오, who made a major contribution to volcanology by documenting the formation of 쇼와신잔 in detail. It is quite quiet, perhaps because it is tucked away behind a shop where it is not easily visible. I was surprised to discover from a newspaper article on display that the elderly gentleman who welcomed me was 미마츠 사부로, the son of 미마츠 마사오. The exhibits are broadly divided into personal records about 미마츠 and records of the formation and observation of 쇼와신잔. I found them very interesting and spent nearly 1 hour there. Please note that you may have difficulty understanding the content if you do not speak Japanese. Admission is 300 yen, cash only. They said photographing the exhibits is allowed on the condition that the photos are not posted on SNS.

You can get a good understanding of 三松正夫's life, which was also featured in a manga by 手塚治虫. The museum is run by a director who is 三松正夫's grandchild.

I went around 1400 on Saturday, but it wasn't open. Parking in the 昭和新山 area costs 500円, so I wasted the parking fee.