The was
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
aerial lift
An aerial lift, also known as a cable car or ropeway, is a means of cable transport in which ''cabins'', ''cars'', ''gondolas'', or open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more cables. Aerial lift systems are frequently employ ...
line in
Aso,
Kumamoto
is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2.
had a population of 1,461,000, ...
, operated by .
Overview
It was opened in 1958, and climbs
Mount Aso
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
. Its official website claims it was the first aerial lift in the world to be built on an active
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
. It went up from the west side of the crater edge, each 15-20 min. It only ran during Volcanic Alert Level 1 (normal).
It often stopped operating due to higher Volcanic Alert Levels. The last operation time was in August 2014.
Aso Super Ring
On the first floor of the original rope station building, there was a 3D projector showing the Mount Aso scenes of 4 seasons, and the geographic history of craters.
Dismantle
During the
2016 Kumamoto earthquakes
The were a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0 mainshock which struck at 01:25 JST on April 16, 2016 (16:25 UTC on April 15) beneath Kumamoto City of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu Region, Japan, at a depth of ...
, the cable station and ropes were damaged by volcanic ash and earthquake. On 28 February 2018, the crater access restriction was lifted, the ropeway stayed close. A shuttle bus service runs from the original boarding area, Mount Aso terminal to crater's edge as replacement. On 12 October 2018, it was announced to dismantle the station and ropes, target to finish by spring 2019.
See also
*
List of aerial lifts in Japan
The list of aerial lifts in Japan lists aerial lifts in the nation.
In Japan, aerial lift, or , includes means of transport such as aerial tramway, funitel, gondola lift, funifor, as well as chairlift. All of them are legally considered as a sort ...
References
{{Coord, 32, 52, 48.9, N, 131, 4, 46.8, E, display=title
Aerial tramways in Japan
1958 establishments in Japan