Susono June Report - Yoshio Noda (FSFA Committee Member)

Our Susono-based FSFA committee member Yoshio Noda presented the following report and slideshow at our June meeting held on Monday 1st June. By clicking on the first slide you can view a larger image of all 8 slides.

Yoshio keeps us up to date with regular photos of Mount Fuji. The most recent was taken on Thursday last week with the increased warmth decreasing the snow coverage. At 3,776 metres the temperature is still very cold near the summit, hence there is still some snow remaining despite the 30°C plus days and humidity.

Bear sightings continue to be a problem throughout Japan and specifically in the Susono area! Those who are able to read the Japanese text will note that the sightings on the 21st & 22nd were located near 2 Elementary (Primary) Schools and a Middle School, while other sightings on the 20th were close to Fuji Safari Park, Fujisan Children's Land and Toriki Plateau parking lot. 

While there have been no reported attacks or deaths in Susono, climate change and rural depopulation have resulted in an alarming increase in the number of attacks and deaths throughout Japan!

Yoshio's work with the scouting movement continues as noted in his previous reports.

This UNESCO World Heritage site is about 40 minutes by car south of Susono on the Izu Peninsula and is a well preserved iron smelting facility. Two sets of furnaces were constructed, as the facility was intended to cast both bronze and iron cannons and mortars.

Yoshio travelled to Sendai by shinkansen (2 bullet trains), a journey of about 400 kilometres in around two and a half hours to deliver his lecture and visit friends.

Yoshio has embraced AI to produce his lecture materials and slides, a number of the pictures used in this report and other aspects of his work and life. There is much debate about the pros and cons of using AI!

Yoshio's report concluded with a number of images reporting on the live fire activities of the locally based Japanese Defense Forces at the base of Mt Fuji, the need to protect from the sun on hot days, Susono Mayor Harukaze Murata's speech at the Susono Chamber of Commerce and Industry's AGM, and finally his beautiful sunset image of Mount Fuji.

And with thanks to AI:

Mount Fuji’s exceptionally symmetrical, near-perfect cone shape is one of the most recognizable natural landmarks in the world. Standing as Japan’s tallest peak at 3,776 meters (12,389 feet), this iconic silhouette is actually a geological illusion. While it appears to be a single, flawless mountain, it is a composite stratovolcano built from three separate, stacked volcanoes that formed over hundreds of thousands of years.