kyushukumamoto
Aso
Aso is a vast volcanic caldera in Kumamoto Prefecture, in the Kyushu region, some 25 kilometres from north to south, its floor of farms and towns ringed by grassy walls and crowned by the five peaks of Mount Aso.
The crater of Nakadake, Mount Aso
- Prefecture
- Kumamoto
- Region
- Kyushu
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
A world of grass inside a ring of hills, with horses on the slopes and the five peaks at its centre.
The Aso caldera was formed between about 270,000 and 90,000 years ago, in four great volcanic episodes that emptied the ground beneath until it sank into a basin about 25 kilometres long and 18 wide, among the largest in the world. Some 50,000 people now live inside it, in towns, rice fields and pasture, with the railway and roads running across its floor. At its centre rise the five peaks of Aso, Takadake the highest at 1,592 metres, Nakadake the most famous for its crater.
What most travellers remember is the grass. The slopes of the outer rim and the central cones are covered in open grassland, kept that way for more than a thousand years by the farmers who graze their cattle and horses on it and burn the old grass each spring so that the new can grow. The red akaushi cattle of Aso graze here, and the views from the Milk Road along the northern rim run for miles in every direction.
Aso is part of the Aso Kuju National Park, among the first national parks of Japan, created in 1934, and a UNESCO Global Geopark. It is also one of the most sacred places in Kyushu: Aso Shrine, at the foot of the northern rim, is among the oldest shrines in the country, and its priestly family has served it for many centuries.
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see and do
What to see in Aso
Daikanbo
The highest viewpoint on the northern outer rim, 936 metres above the sea, looking across the caldera floor to the five peaks. Seen from here, their outline is said to resemble the Buddha lying in nirvana.
Kusasenri-ga-hama
A broad grassy meadow on the slopes below Mount Eboshi, about a kilometre across, with shallow ponds and horses grazing, and Nakadake rising behind.
Komezuka
A small, perfectly rounded cone covered in grass, its top dimpled like a scoop taken from a heap of rice, which is how it got its name. It stands beside the road up to the central peaks.
Nakadake
The central cone of Aso, whose crater contains a pool of milky turquoise water, steaming in the cold air. It is the scene most associated with the mountain.
Aso Shrine
A shrine to the twelve deities of Aso, by tradition founded more than two thousand years ago, approached by a path that runs across its front rather than towards it. Its two-storey tower gate, among the largest of its kind in Japan, was restored and reopened in 2023.
The Milk Road
A road along the top of the northern outer rim, named for the dairy farms beside it, with open views over the caldera on one side and the rolling grassland of the outer slopes on the other.
Shirakawa Suigen
A spring in the southern caldera at Minamiaso, where clear water rises from the sand of a shrine pool at a rate of some sixty tonnes a minute, one of the many springs fed by the rain that falls on Aso.
Aso Volcano Museum
A museum at the foot of Kusasenri-ga-hama that explains how the caldera was made, with cameras that show the crater of Nakadake live on its screens.
experiences
The best of Aso
The caldera with a geologist's eye
A day across the rim and the central peaks with a guide who knows the geology and the farming, who can read the landscape from Daikanbo to Kusasenri-ga-hama.
A ryokan on the grass
A night at an onsen ryokan in the caldera, in a villa with its own open-air onsen, the five peaks and the rim beyond the water.
Akaushi at the table
The lean, deeply flavoured beef of the red cattle that graze the grasslands, served at dinner as the centre of a kaiseki meal of Aso vegetables and spring water.
The springs of Minamiaso
A slow drive through the southern caldera, from one clear spring to the next, with time at Shirakawa Suigen and the small shrines beside the water.
plan your visit
Aso on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- One night in the caldera allows the rim and the central peaks to be seen at an easy pace, and two nights, often split with Kurokawa Onsen, let the landscape be enjoyed rather than toured.
- Getting there
- About forty minutes by car from Kumamoto Airport and an hour from Kumamoto city; by the limited express on the Hohi Line from Kumamoto to Aso Station in about an hour and a quarter. From Fukuoka it is about two hours by car, and from Beppu about two hours by the Yamanami Highway.
- Pairs well with
- Aso lies at the centre of Kyushu: Kumamoto to the west, Kurokawa Onsen just north, Takachiho to the southeast, and Yufuin and Beppu at the far end of the Yamanami Highway.Kurokawa OnsenKumamotoTakachihoYufuinBeppu
journeys
Aso on a private journey
We bring guests to Aso on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Aso: questions answered
How big is the Aso caldera?
About 25 kilometres from north to south and 18 from east to west, among the largest calderas in the world, with some 50,000 people living inside it.
How do you get to Mount Aso?
By car from Kumamoto Airport in about forty minutes, from Kumamoto city in about an hour, or by the limited express from Kumamoto to Aso Station in about an hour and a quarter.
How many days do you need at Aso?
One night allows the rim, Kusasenri-ga-hama and Aso Shrine to be seen at an easy pace; two nights, often shared with Kurokawa Onsen, give the landscape the time it deserves.
What is the best viewpoint at Aso?
Daikanbo, on the northern outer rim, which looks across the whole caldera to the five peaks. Kusasenri-ga-hama, on the central slopes, is the most beautiful meadow.
Is Aso worth visiting from Kumamoto?
Yes. It is one of the great landscapes of Japan, an hour from the city, and pairs naturally with a night at an onsen ryokan in the caldera or at Kurokawa.
Can Aso be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Aso included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Aso, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Aso, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.