Wow Place #361: Mt. Aso, Kyushu, Japan
A friend of mine, the great social network expert Harald Katzmair, once explained to me that very little energy arises from water at rest on a flat plain. To generate energy, water needs to flow from a position of high to a position of low. It needs a gradient. In short, you need imbalance and contrast to energize a system.
This is as true for groups of people as it is for water. On a team, homogeneity often fails to breed innovation; to succeed, groups need a diversity of skills, experience and personality types. They need some degree of contrast, conflict or disagreement.
I think this phenomenon is true, as well, when it comes to travel. For a country to attract me, I need to see a wide variation in food, architecture and landscape — three qualities that can be rare in a country like Japan which prides itself on its homogeneity. To be fair, a local would point out subtle differences in cuisine, character and language from region to region. But for a foreigner like me, Japan all tends to look and feel fairly similar, ie. a long series of big cities and rice paddies, one succeeding the other.
Perhaps that’s why I’m so fascinated by Mt. Aso in the southwest part of the country. When you plan a trip to Japan, you probably imagine tea gardens, bullet trains and castles; but who thinks about volcanoes?!!
A highly active volcano in the center of Kyoto, Mount Aso (Aso-san to the locals) most recently erupted in 2021 and 2016. Its caldera ranks among the world’s largest, with a diameter of up to 25 kilometers (15 miles) and a circumference of over 100 kilometers (62 miles). In my mind, Aso looks like nowhere else in Japan. Think Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii. Or Krakatoa East of Java.
Within the Aso park area, there are two sites that present a particular contrast: Kusasenri and Sunasenri. While Kusasenri translates to “a thousand leagues of grass,” Sunasenri’s central word is “suna” or “sand.” Where Kusasenri is famous for its rolling green meadows, ponds and grazing horses, Sunasenri is a stark, barren plain covered in black volcanic ash.
The first location reminds me of the American Midwest in springtime. The other feels like the surface of the moon. Best of all, the two plains are only 10 minutes away from each other (but worlds apart). Now that’s a contrast I can get behind!
Kusasenri overwhelms you with the color green. Walking the verdant, grassy loop around the plain takes about an hour, with an optional horse ride at the end. The more ambitious can climb up the nearby Mount Eboshi and extend their hike by an hour or so. Either way, It’s a lovely stroll, with volcanic peaks all around. Even better, the parking lot is just a minute away across the street, offering ample food and drink options.
Reaching Sunasenri takes a bit more time and effort. Reaching the ash fields requires a brisk, 45-60 minute climb from the parking lot, huffing and puffing up a steep roadway, then another 20 minutes across the sand on a rickety wooden walkway. Although the caldera was closed when were there due to continuing clean up after a recent helicopter crash, the hike was well worth it. This truly is an otherworldly landscape—all greys and blacks, not a sign of life for miles. A stark contrast both to the grasslands of Kusasenri and to the rest of Japan in general, it’s a fascinating place.
In my opinion, Mount Aso (and its two contrasting planes) is one of the best sights in all of Japan. But I would certainly welcome an energetic, contrasting debate on the topic.
(A friend of mine is doing the dating apps. What he keeps discovering in potential partners’ profiles are people looking for someone just like them: same interests, same hobbies, same diet, same income level. I can understand this. For years, I thought the perfect romantic partner for me would be easy-going, laid back, chill—just like me. And you know what—when I met those women, I was bored! We were too similar. I’m so grateful now for my wife, Donica, who is quite different from me in many, many ways. Occasionally we struggle to express our differing world views. But is never ever boring!
Are you surrounding yourself with safe, comfortable clones of yourself? Don’t forget the energy of the gradient!)