Lake Toya area

A perfectly circular caldera lake on the Pacific side of southwestern Hokkaido, designated a UNESCO Geopark for the geological record written across its shoreline. Ryokan and hot-spring hotels run along the southern shore at Toyako Onsen, and on summer nights launch fireworks over the lake from a pier. Mt. Usu still smokes; its 1977 and 2000 eruptions are documented at the Volcano Science Museum, and a chairlift climbs to a ridge view of the active crater. The 1944 lava dome Showa Shinzan rose from a wheat field over two years and is still warm to the touch.