IT was a clear morning last December in the tourism zone of Showa Shinzan Mountain in Hokkaido. The cold wind was freezing our ears. Few tourists have come to enjoy the beauty of the active volcano, the shape of which is close to that of a rocky hill, and whose valley is half covered with snow.

Various souvenirs were sold at stalls in the tourism resort located 86 kilometers southwest of Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture (a prefecture