I decided to go hiking, my new hobby since Ive come to rural Japan. Having already climbed Mt. Yufu twice and hiked on and around Mt. Kuju a few times it was time to stretch my legs a little. I fixed my eyes on Aso-san (阿蘇山) in the neighboring prefecture of Kumamoto–an active volcano whose volcanic eruptions formed the island of Kyushu (Japans third largest island). It also holds the record for the worlds largest volcanic caldera and is Japan’s largest active volcano. The volcano offers a couple hiking routes with views of the still fuming crater and the Aso caldera. The route I choose took me from the Sensuikyou car park (仙酔峡駐車場) at the base of the Sensuikyou Rope Way up to the edge of the crater then off to the top of Naka-dake, (中岳) which overlooks the crater from a height of 1506 meters. The second summit of the day, Taka-dake (高岳1592 meters), followed and I ended with a very steep descent to the car park via Sensuikyou Ridge (仙酔尾根). For the full blog post visit: gaijinguide.blogspot.com