Final frame: Japan’s volcano victims leave photos of last moments

More than 50 people died when Mount Ontake erupted without warning on Sept 27. Construction company employee Izumi Noguchi, 59, was climbing alone, as his usual hiking companion, his wife, Hiromi, had to work, she told Japanese broadcaster NHK and other TV stations. His compact camera was banged up, but the memory chip inside was undamaged. She printed all 100 shots of his last day on the mountain. The final one, pictured here, is of an enormous plume billowing from the crater behind a mountaintop lodge.

This is an amazing photo. But I wish he had fled instead of taking pictures. I’d rather have him back. I hope to hike up there someday, perhaps 10 years later. I want to see what my husband saw.

Hiromi, wife of Izumi Noguchi

Hideomi Takahashi, 41, was among nine climbers from a major Japanese insurance company, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings Inc. They worked at two branches near Tokyo. Only three survived. At Takahashi’s funeral on Thursday, his family showed a close friend an iPhone with at least six photos from what would be the last few minutes of his life: a cotton candy-like cloud floating next to the mountain in a clear blue sky, a sacred gate to a mountaintop shrine, some of his colleagues making their way up. The last photo, apparently shot by a colleague, shows Takahashi standing next to the “Mount Ontake summit” sign, giving a thumbs-up.

When I saw the iPhone still worked, I thought it’s like a miracle.

Hiroyuki, friend of Hideomi Takahashi

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