A lot has been written on this attraction - the sulphur smell, smoke, barren land a'la moonscape, etc. It's certainly something unique to most tourists. What struck me most is the extremely contrasting nature of sceneries found in the same place - quiet yet sinister active underground volcanic activities surrounded by changing colours of autumn! Another is the scenic and beautiful drive to the location doesn't really prepare first time visitors for the stark barren landscape. Worth a visit.
The volcanos gives plenty of smoke and it is quite impressive (and smells). This is a nice thing to do by passing: just stop here a few minutes and walk to the volcano (10 minutes).
对台湾的游客来说,这里其实跟阳明山小油坑很像,同样都是硫黄地质、喷烟、喷热水、喷硫黄味儿,不过这里比小油坑视野宽广很多,也能比较靠近喷气孔观察。
This is on the main road, between Lake Kussharo and Lake Mashu. The volcano is live with steam and you are able to walk nearby.
It was my first time to visit sulphur mountain! Although the smell of sulphur not so nice but the it was really amazing. The car park fee cost us ¥410 but it come with free parking for Lake Mashu level 1 observatory desk.
This is one of the best sulphur mountain whcih I have seen, as you can get pretty up closed. View from the top was beautiful as I was there in the autumn.
Awesome to be so close to geological activity. It was a special experience for our 2 children. However, The sulphur vents were the only thing there to see, we paid parking and stayed only a few minutes, although parking fee was not too high, 410 Jpy.
Quite an impressive "barren" rocky landscape. Once you reached the location, the stench of the sulphur in the air greets you. Like many people had passed wind and you're right in the middle of them. My group of travel mates immediately seize the chance to shoot some "anime" moments...with the steam pouring from the cavities providing the setting, as if they were characters from the animated shows. Certainly fun moment. The vents where the sulphur crystals discharged are hot and can warm you up during the winter months. Enjoy the "moonscape" moments :)
ちょうど訪問した時は、雪がやんで雪山になっていましたが、そこから噴煙がわき出ていました。なんてすごいのだろうと感じました。
Io-zan or, otherwise known as Mt. Io, literally translates to sulphur mountain. So as the name suggests, the mountain is known for its sulphur-emitting fumaroles. The presence of sulphur-emitting fumaroles also means that you’ll catch a whiff of this rotten-egg smell permeating through the air the moment you step out of your vehicle. In fact, most people in my tour group ran straight for the visitors’ centre to avoid the smell! I was lucky enough to get a tailwind, so that made the experience a lot better. From the carpark, you have to walk a short distance to get closer to the fumaroles, and the route can be quite rocky in some areas, so watch where you’re going! I think if you’re interested in geology, you tend to be able to appreciate these things a bit more. Unfortunately, sulphur-emitting fumaroles are all that Mount Io has to offer, and there isn’t really anything else to see, so if you are really a huge fan of geosciences, I recommend going somewhere else that has more landforms/features to offer than just fumaroles.