Masao Mimatsu

Masao Mimatsu (三松正夫; 9 July 1888 – 8 December 1977) was a Japanese postmaster who recorded the growth of the Shōwa-shinzan mountain in 1944–1945.

On 31 December 1943, Shōwa-shinzan began forming from rapid uplifting of a wheat field as a result of a sudden earthquake.

A conflicting story described in Time on Monday, 4 July 1949[1] indicates this purchase to be around 1944, and to have happened as a result of pressure from the villagers of Fukaba.

Despite his amateur status, when he presented his data and sketches to the World Volcano Conference in Oslo in 1948, his work was praised by professional volcanologists.

He is now honoured by a statue at the base of Usuzan, and his work is celebrated in the Mimatsu Masao Memorial Hall near the site of Shōwa-shinzan.