In 1,200 years of records on Japan's biggest active volcano, Mount Aso, there are accounts of more than 3,000 eruptions, of one farmer injured by falling stones (in 1485), but not one death. On the floor of the crater15 miles long and ten miles widelive 60,000 people.
One day last week, Aso's crater swarmed with sightseeing students and city dwellers on holiday. In the crowd were 39-year-old Police Chief Kunihiro Shikura and his three-year-old son, Chitose.
Suddenly, with a roar, Aso exploded. Huge, white-hot boulders and great clouds of glowing ash erupted from the cone. Shikura and son, who had been...
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