Volcano eruption jeopardizes futures

DATE, Japan - Every April after the snow melts, Katsumi Miki has gone out on his tractor to till his vegetable farm on the slopes of Mount Usu.

But this spring, he's sitting in sweatpants and slippers in a cramped emergency shelter, surrounded by hundreds of others who fled the eruption of the volcano on whose slopes they make their living.

Though about 2,200 people were allowed to return to their homes yesterday for the first time since Usu erupted last week, the lives of more than 15,000 others in northern Japan remain on hold.

And like Miki, most aren't worried so much about their lives now as they are worried about their livelihoods.

"It's been five days since I came here, and I have no idea how my crops are doing," Miki said. "I don't care if I die, I just want to go check on the farm."

After days of seismic rumbling, Mount Usu coughed up gas and debris on Friday for the first time in 22 years.

With rich soil, hot springs and natural beauty, the area at Usu's feet, home to about 51,000 people, is a paradise for farmers, fishermen and hoteliers.

While some have been escorted back home by authorities for quick visits to feed livestock and pets, people worry about what will happen to farms while the farmers are away and inns where all reservations have been canceled.

The last eruption, in 1978, changed the mountain's shape drastically - from a jagged point to a squat and rugged lump.

"Certainly there have been big changes in the topography where the eruptions occurred," said Tadahide Ui, a volcano expert at Hokkaido University. "In those areas it will be impossible for people's lives to go back to the way they were."

And the economic pain will continue long after the volcanic activity subsides.

"A lot of stores and hotels had to shut down the last time it blew," said Rikio Terashima, chairman of the Date Tourism Association. "The sense of danger stayed with people, and tourists and travel agencies avoided us for a long time."