NAGANO -- Families who lost loved ones in the 2014 eruption of Mt. Ontake on the border between Nagano and Gifu prefectures climbed the mountain to mourn the victims on Friday -- one day before entry restrictions to its peak would be lifted for the first time since the eruption.
Entry restrictions to Otaki Peak were lifted Saturday.
The family members of the victims offered silent prayers at the peak in the village of Otaki in Nagano Prefecture at 11:52 a.m., the time when the mountain on the border between Nagano and Gifu prefecture suddenly erupted six years ago, leaving 63 people dead or missing.
The village plans to dismantle the hut that was damaged in the eruption at the summit by autumn.
As some of the victims died at the hut, the families had requested the village to allow them to climb the mountain to pray for the souls of the victims before the lodge is dismantled.
Last year, the village installed a steel shelter near the peak that can accommodate about 30 people.
The adjacent evacuation hut, which has a capacity of about 160 people, was reinforced with fiber used in bulletproof vests.
The families' entry to the peak was permitted for the first time since the eruption, as safety measures had been completed in the vicinity.
Ten people, including family members, left the seventh station of the mountain trail early Friday. After reaching the peak before noon, they joined their hands in prayer to mourn the victims in front of the lodge.
Kiyokazu Tokoro, 58, lost his second son Yuki, then 26, and his fiancee, Yuki Niwa, then 24, in the eruption.
Tokoro climbed the mountain wearing a handmade mask with a sunflower print, a gift from Niwa's mother. The two loved sunflowers, he said. "I wanted to see the view that they both saw," he said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
