Wild mountain fires on Mt Myogi, Gunma

Before the earthquake hit last night in Japan, December 8th 2025, the 11 pm news on various television stations, were reporting on the wild mountain fires on Mt Myogi in Gunma Prefecture. The social media platform X (previously Twitter) was also awash with images and posts about the wild fires. 

The images of the mountain on fire, taken from Tomioka city, in the stark dark of night were alarming. Thankfully, so far, there have been no reports of injuries or worse, but the fire is still not completely under control, 30 hours later. The self defense forces have been deployed to help get the fire under control. They are using helicopters to release water over the area. The fire has already burned at least eight hectares of mountain according to the Mainichi newspaper.

The dry air and high winds are said to have contributed to the rapid spread of the mountain fire. They are advising that you stay away from Mt Myogi until the fire has been contained.