What to do in Nasu, Tochigi, relaxing nature with many of cool cafes and fresh dairy food
I got 6 days of summer vacation so I visited a Hisho-chi (避暑地: chilly summer resort) in Tochigi prefecture called Nasu-Kogen(那須高原) highland from August 11th to 13th, which’s in Obon season. It is a great place to visit for its beautiful nature and attraction if you are in the Kanto(関東) region, which includes Tokyo. I left home in Tokyo at 8:30 am. On the way to Nasu, we got stuck in the heavy traffic jam on the highway and it took us 6 hours of driving to get there, where it usually takes only 2 hours. Obon is a national holiday that people go back to their hometown for visiting their ancestors but it turns to be just a summer vacation for those who don’t have to go back home. If you don’t wanna get stuck in the jam in Obon, you have to leave earlier than that.
In Nasu, you can find beautiful nature for hiking, zoos and farms to play with animals, great food at local cafes and restaurants and even southeast Asian bazaar. Here are my recommendations for tourist spots, cafes, shops I have visited in our three days of the trip.
Tourist Spots
Nasu safari park(那須サファリパーク)
https://www.nasusafari.com/
This is where I was excited the most to visit. It is not just a zoo, but you can get into the cage with the bus or your car and feed animals from the car window. Even though white lions or Bengal tiger have to be seen out of the cage, these are worth it. Seeing giraffes and handing food directly from your hand is really exciting.
Minami Gaoka farm（南ケ丘牧場）
https://www.minamigaoka.co.jp/
This is a perfect place for a family with small children. It is entrance- free and you will pay a few hundred yen if you want to enter each cage of goats, guinea pigs etc. or ride on horseback.
The fresh milk called Golden milk and the soft serve made of the milk is what you cannot miss out when you come to a farm resort. It is not super big so 1 hour should be enough to see around for those who are a couple without children like us.
Asian bazaar（アジアンバザール）
http://www.asianoldbazaar.com/
This is an interesting spot for someone crazy for Asian countries. There are shops and restaurants in Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and Nepal. We went to Bali restaurant for lunch and had Bali nudle for me and nasi goreng for my wife. It tasted like arranged-for-Japanese, but still, they were good. The best shop was Bali. They have countless Bali goods in the large shop space and I got some Indonesian instant ramen, spices, and coffee.
Nasu ropeway （那須ロープウェイ）
https://www.nasu-ropeway.jp/
It was a completely cloudy day when we were going up the ropeway at Chausu-Dake mountain. The ropeway place has their twitter account posting pictures of the sunny landscape from the upper ropeway station so I decided to go up the mountain. Although it was partly cloudy depending on how the cloud moves, the view at 1684m high is breathtaking so we stayed up for 40 mins and came down. If you like hiking, you can also enjoy the 50 mins of climbing from the station to the top of the mountain. The ropeway runs every 20 mins.
Sessho Seki（殺生石）
https://www.jalan.net/kankou/spt_09407ab2070007823/
When you come back from the ropeway down to the town, there is a mythology place called Sessho seki(killing stone). The stone sits just about 200 meters away from the entrance so we just made a quick stop at here and took pictures. It emits toxic gas that used to be strong enough to kill, but now it is much weaker.
Nasu Garden Outlet
There are many brand shops like Nike, Columbia, Furla etc. with affordable outlet price so we stopped by for just a few hours before going back home at last day. Outlet malls are usually packed with many people but this place was not crowded at all so we could see around without being annoyed.
https://borage.jp/
This cafe is located along the main street of Nasu. They got some seats that you can enjoy to observe the beautifl woods in front of the cafe.
Their pizza here was just amazing. We ordered tomato pizza and it was super juicy. This may probably be the best pizza I've ever had.
Chaus in Kuroiso district（チャウス 黒磯）
https://chus-nasu.com/
With 15 mins drive from Nasu's main area or Nasu garden outlet mall, Kuroiso is a small district where there are about 10 nice shops ranging from a cafe, everyday goods, and even hostel. We stopped by a cafe called Chaus to got lunch.
The place is spacious and they even have a loft that comfortable couches are equipped. And ofcourse the food was tasty. Since Nasu has farms to grow cows, what you want to eat is a cheesecake.
We had one here and was really fresh and tasty. They also sell some local food and souvenir. We got fresh cheese made at Nasu! If you look for somewhere to stay, they run a hostel at the building.
White Note（ホワイトノート）
http://whitenote.jp/
Turn to west from Nasu Kaido street, this pretty shop sells lifestyle goods such as kitchenware, shoes, leather wallet, clothing, etc.. With its remarkable design and quality, you will find something that you really like. I bought a light and quick-to-dry towel and it is now definitely my favourite.
Nasu Kogen Yuai no Mori farmers market（那須高原友愛の森）
https://www.yuainomori.com/
This market is just one minute driving from White note. This market has many kinds of fresh vegetable, fruits and some processed food with affordable price. It will be nice to stop by on the last day of Nasu trip before you go back home.
Nasu was definitely a great place to enjoy nature and many attractions to do. But I do not recommend to go in Obon season by car. The streets in the area were also very busy with many cars. So it would be good if you go avoiding Japanese national holiday season.
In Nasu, you can find beautiful nature for hiking, zoos and farms to play with animals, great food at local cafes and restaurants and even southeast Asian bazaar. Here are my recommendations for tourist spots, cafes, shops I have visited in our three days of the trip.
Tourist Spots
Nasu safari park(那須サファリパーク)
https://www.nasusafari.com/
This is where I was excited the most to visit. It is not just a zoo, but you can get into the cage with the bus or your car and feed animals from the car window. Even though white lions or Bengal tiger have to be seen out of the cage, these are worth it. Seeing giraffes and handing food directly from your hand is really exciting.
Minami Gaoka farm（南ケ丘牧場）
https://www.minamigaoka.co.jp/
This is a perfect place for a family with small children. It is entrance- free and you will pay a few hundred yen if you want to enter each cage of goats, guinea pigs etc. or ride on horseback.
The fresh milk called Golden milk and the soft serve made of the milk is what you cannot miss out when you come to a farm resort. It is not super big so 1 hour should be enough to see around for those who are a couple without children like us.Asian bazaar（アジアンバザール）
http://www.asianoldbazaar.com/
This is an interesting spot for someone crazy for Asian countries. There are shops and restaurants in Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and Nepal. We went to Bali restaurant for lunch and had Bali nudle for me and nasi goreng for my wife. It tasted like arranged-for-Japanese, but still, they were good. The best shop was Bali. They have countless Bali goods in the large shop space and I got some Indonesian instant ramen, spices, and coffee.
Nasu ropeway （那須ロープウェイ）
https://www.nasu-ropeway.jp/
It was a completely cloudy day when we were going up the ropeway at Chausu-Dake mountain. The ropeway place has their twitter account posting pictures of the sunny landscape from the upper ropeway station so I decided to go up the mountain. Although it was partly cloudy depending on how the cloud moves, the view at 1684m high is breathtaking so we stayed up for 40 mins and came down. If you like hiking, you can also enjoy the 50 mins of climbing from the station to the top of the mountain. The ropeway runs every 20 mins.
Sessho Seki（殺生石）
https://www.jalan.net/kankou/spt_09407ab2070007823/
When you come back from the ropeway down to the town, there is a mythology place called Sessho seki(killing stone). The stone sits just about 200 meters away from the entrance so we just made a quick stop at here and took pictures. It emits toxic gas that used to be strong enough to kill, but now it is much weaker.Nasu Garden Outlet
There are many brand shops like Nike, Columbia, Furla etc. with affordable outlet price so we stopped by for just a few hours before going back home at last day. Outlet malls are usually packed with many people but this place was not crowded at all so we could see around without being annoyed.
Cafe and Restaurants
DINING CAFE BORAGE （ダイニングカフェ ボリジ）https://borage.jp/
This cafe is located along the main street of Nasu. They got some seats that you can enjoy to observe the beautifl woods in front of the cafe.Their pizza here was just amazing. We ordered tomato pizza and it was super juicy. This may probably be the best pizza I've ever had.
Chaus in Kuroiso district（チャウス 黒磯）
https://chus-nasu.com/
With 15 mins drive from Nasu's main area or Nasu garden outlet mall, Kuroiso is a small district where there are about 10 nice shops ranging from a cafe, everyday goods, and even hostel. We stopped by a cafe called Chaus to got lunch.
The place is spacious and they even have a loft that comfortable couches are equipped. And ofcourse the food was tasty. Since Nasu has farms to grow cows, what you want to eat is a cheesecake.
We had one here and was really fresh and tasty. They also sell some local food and souvenir. We got fresh cheese made at Nasu! If you look for somewhere to stay, they run a hostel at the building.
Shops
White Note（ホワイトノート）
http://whitenote.jp/
Turn to west from Nasu Kaido street, this pretty shop sells lifestyle goods such as kitchenware, shoes, leather wallet, clothing, etc.. With its remarkable design and quality, you will find something that you really like. I bought a light and quick-to-dry towel and it is now definitely my favourite.
Nasu Kogen Yuai no Mori farmers market（那須高原友愛の森）
https://www.yuainomori.com/
This market is just one minute driving from White note. This market has many kinds of fresh vegetable, fruits and some processed food with affordable price. It will be nice to stop by on the last day of Nasu trip before you go back home.
Nasu was definitely a great place to enjoy nature and many attractions to do. But I do not recommend to go in Obon season by car. The streets in the area were also very busy with many cars. So it would be good if you go avoiding Japanese national holiday season.
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