Nasu, Tochigi

Volcanic gas still seeps from the ground at Sessho-seki, the stone where Matsuo Basho paused on his journey north, and the smell carries faintly across the path even on a calm afternoon. That proximity — between a classical literary site and active geology — sets the tone for Nasu-machi, where the layers of history press close to the surface. The Nasu Yumoto hot spring, whose discovery legend dates to the seventh century, sits within reach of the same highlands where imperial villa grounds were established in the twentieth century, and the two eras coexist without much fanfare.

The older fabric runs through places like Ashino-juku, the northernmost post town on the Oshu Kaido highway in the Kanto region, where historic structures still line the route. Senshoji temple, founded in the thirteenth century, holds a gilt bronze Amida statue designated as an important cultural property. Festivals like the Nasu Kitsune-bi Matsuri and the Kyubi Matsuri keep alive the legend of the nine-tailed fox, a story attached to this land for centuries. The Mimori family residence, a designated cultural property, stands quietly as evidence of how domestic architecture once looked in this corner of Tochigi.

Further into the highlands, the terrain shifts toward Nasu-dake and the cluster of lesser-known baths — Kitaonsen, Omaru, Mitodogoya — that require some effort to reach. Art Biotope Nasu, with its ceramics and glass workshops, occupies a different register entirely, but fits the pattern of the place: craft and landscape folded together, the volcanic highlands absorbing each addition without losing their own weight.