THE K-AR METHOD of age determination is commonly used to date rocks from Pleistocene volcanoes in Japan (e.g. Kaneoka et al. 1980, Itaya et al. 1984, Shimizu et al. 1988, Itaya et al. 1989). However. there are still many problems with K-Ar dating of the young volcanic rocks, as reviewed by Itaya and Nagao (1988).(omitted)