A volcano on Japan's major western island of Kyushu has erupted multiple times, sending a plume of smoke and ash as high as 4.4 kilometres into the air and causing dozens of flight cancellations.

The volcano, which is called Sakurajima and is located on the southern tip of Kyushu near the city of Kagoshima, erupted about 1am local time on Sunday, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

There were two more eruptions about 2:30am and 8:50am.

It is the first eruption reaching 4 km or higher in almost 13 months, Kyodo news agency reports.

Local media also reported 30 flights in and out of Kagoshima Airport were cancelled because of ashfall and related reasons.

The JMA said volcanic ash drifted northeast following the latest eruption and it expected ash to fall in Kagoshima as well as nea

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