Image of the Eruption of Mount Bandai

Inoue Tankei 

1888 (Meiji 21)

Donated by Tanba Tsuneo 

Around 8:00 AM on July 15th, 1888, a massive shaking followed by an enormous roar announced that a Phreatic eruption had occurred in the environs around Mount Kobandai. A huge landslide tore down towards the foot of the mountain, burying five village hamlets and killing or wounding approximately five hundred people. It was a true catastrophe.

The environs of modern Urabandai, the area to the north of Mount Bandai, including the five colored ponds of Goshiki-numa and the lakes and tarns of the region, were created as a result of this eruption.