Kegon Falls is the most famous of Nikko’s 48 waterfalls. Water from Lake Chuzenji falls 97 metres straight down to the rocks below creating a dynamic and artistic work of nature. A special lift takes visitors to the basin where the force and roar of the water can be witnessed close up! Kegon Falls offers stunning views every season. Deep green in early summer, red and yellow leaves in autumn. in winter, the water freezes as it drops creating beautiful ice shapes almost like beautiful pieces of art.

One of Yaita City’s Top 10 Waterside Scenic Spots — a quiet spot steeped in legend and devotion Located in the mountains of Yaita City, Akataki Falls is named for the reddish hue of the rock wall over which its waters cascade. The unusual landscape has long drawn attention. Since ancient times, this area has been considered a sacred site for ascetic waterfall training, giving the place a spiritual, shrine-like atmosphere. Akataki Falls is also listed among “Yaita City’s Top 10 Scenic Waterfalls.” Throughout the seasons, the emerald greenery, flowing water, and falling mist create picturesque, scroll-like scenery. This spot is also a hidden gem loved by photography enthusiasts and travelers seeking healing. It is said that Tetsuya Funamura, a composer born in the neighboring Shioya Town, often visited here during his childhood, leaving him with deep memories. On the way to the falls, visitors pass by a giant fir tree and a small shrine, making the trail itself a spiritual walking journey. Whether you come seeking the mystical power of the sacred site, or simply to enjoy the peaceful scenery, Akataki Falls is a memorable destination not to be missed.

A place steeped in Tokugawa Mitsukuni’s legend, worship traditions, and famous autumn foliage Located in Nakagawa Town, the Gozeniwa Stone is a designated natural monument of Tochigi Prefecture. It is said to have been visited by Tokugawa Mitsukuni (Mito Komon), giving the stone its name. Standing 30 meters high and 70 meters wide, this massive boulder resembles a seated Kannon statue, earning it the name “Great Kannon Rock.” Since ancient times, it has been revered as a place of worship for safe childbirth and family well-being. The area surrounding Gozeniwa Stone is home to a clear mountain stream, selected as one of the “Heisei 100 Best Waters.” With refreshing scenery that changes across the four seasons, nearby Mt. Nasu and the riverbanks of Shikanoyu provide relaxing walking trails. In autumn, from late October to mid-November, the area transforms into one of the region’s most popular spots for vibrant autumn leaves. The harmony of the red foliage, pristine stream, and majestic rock creates a tranquil yet impressive sight, making it one of the highlights of Nakagawa Town’s natural beauty.

Dive into Waterfalls and Pools – Experience the Wonders of Nature In the Kinugawa Onsen area, one of the most popular outdoor activities is canyoning, offered by the NAOC team. Equipped with professional gear, participants slide down natural waterslides, jump into pools, and climb through streams, immersing themselves in the untouched beauty of the Kinugawa Gorge. From splashing waterfalls to thrilling plunge pools, exciting challenges await at every turn, making it one of the most sought-after summer adventures. The activity lasts about three hours and includes free transportation, full equipment, and friendly guidance, making it suitable for families and beginners. Held annually from June to October, it’s an unforgettable way to challenge yourself and connect with nature during the summer season.

From Kinugawa Onsen Sanroku Station to Maruyama Summit Station, the ropeway ascends about 300 meters, offering a four-minute aerial ride with sweeping views of Kinugawa Onsen town and the surrounding valley. At the mountaintop observatory, visitors can see Keichozan Mountain, and on clear days, even Tokyo Skytree in the distance. The summit is also home to a troop of monkeys, where you can observe them up close or feed them. Near the ropeway station stands the Hotokegaura Shrine, dedicated to the guardian deity of Kinugawa Onsen. Its cherry blossoms have made it a hidden gem spot for spring hanami.

Step into a world of light and shadowsEvery winter evening, Wakayama Farm in Utsunomiya transforms into a fantastical landscape adorned with glowing illuminations for the seasonal event Bamboo Winter Lights. This farm, which offers experiences in every season, becomes even more enchanting in winter evenings, when the entire bamboo grove is bathed in dreamlike lights, guiding visitors into a world like something out of a fairytale. As night falls, the lush green bamboo grove glows warmly, with bamboo lanterns and lights illuminating the paths. The scene, accompanied by music, blends nature and art to create a mystical atmosphere that is both inspiring and deeply moving. The event is perfect not only for couples but also for families, and it’s a popular spot for photography enthusiasts. The fusion of new illuminations and the timeless bamboo forest creates a captivating spectacle, making this one of the best seasonal nighttime attractions. On crisp winter nights, a stroll through Wakayama Farm’s bamboo grove offers a romantic and unforgettable experience, where the quiet beauty of bamboo meets the brilliance of light.

The "Moka Summer Festival," the largest event in Moka City, will be held for three days on late July. More than 20 portable shrines and floats gather together at the festival square, where you can feel the enthusiasm of the festival goers.   On the first day of the festival, "Degyo-matsuri," or the "departure from the shrine," is held at Omae Shrine.Many festival-goers participate in the Degyo-matsuri to pray for the safety of the procession of portable shrines and stalls, a good harvest, the eradication of disease, and the development of industry. After the Degyo-Dashi, "Machiawase" is held, in which the portable shrines are carried across each town council, and the head mikoshi parades through the city.   On the second day, "Festival Plaza" will be held and the city center will become a pedestrian zone. approximately 20,000 fireworks will color the night sky, and "Mikoshi Kawatogo (carried mikoshi to cross the river)" would be held on Gogyo River.

Surrounded by a lush green garden, the Nasu Stained Glass Museum is housed in a stone building modeled after a traditional Cotswold manor in England, exuding the charm of the English countryside. The museum is renowned for its collection of 19th-century antique stained glass. In its chapel, regular performances of antique music boxes and pipe organs are held. As you listen to the beautiful melodies and gaze at the gentle light streaming through the stained glass, you may feel as if you have stepped into a small European town. Visitors can also enjoy hands-on workshops to create their own unique stained glass crafts as memorable souvenirs. The museum features a café and gift shop offering traditional English tea and sweets, providing a relaxing space to unwind and savor the atmosphere.

Coffee House yukon is located about 4 minutes walk from Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel. It is a store directly managed by Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel, and it is attractive for its location overlooking Lake Chuzenji. You can enjoy dishes such as the Kanaya Hotel Hundred Year Rice Curry, recreated from the hotel's Taisho era recipe. It's recommended for lunch and tea time. Takeout menu is also available, perfect for accompanying your exploration of Oku-Nikko.

Yana is a trap to catch sweetfish that swim down the river to lay their eggs. The trap is a screen made with finely divided and stripped bamboo placed on a bamboo scaffolding where the water flow is blocked in a V-shaped depression. Ooseyana in Motegi Town in Tochigi boasts the largest yana trap among many traps placed on the Naka River. What’s most entertaining about yana fishing is that you can catch sweetfish while feeling the powerful flow of the Naka River over your feet. The catch is largest between the second half of September and the end of October. At the restaurant, you can savor freshwater fish dishes such as grilled sweetfish with a sprinkle of salt and deep-fried sweetfish while enjoying the river view.

Rossa Berry is a tourist farm that offers strawberry-picking. It is located by National Route 293, halfway between the Oya area, which has been registered as a Japan Heritage Site, and the famous roadside station Romantic Village. It grows Tochigi strawberry breeds such as Tochi-Aika and has a shop and a café. The shop sells strawberries from the farm and their original processed products. After having fun picking strawberries, enjoy gelato and smoothies in the shop’s café space. At Rossa Berry, the strawberry-picking season runs from the end of December to early June the following year. Please come and experience picking beautiful jewelry-like strawberries that have ripened in abundance throughout the greenhouse.

Farm Stay Iri (Hachinosu) is a quiet, two-story Western style accommodation built 20 years ago in a farm village with an extensive view of the countryside. The owner has renovated a 55-year-old storage shed into a fermentation research laboratory “Fer-Lab.” Only one reservation is accepted at a time and guests will not see any other guests during their stay. Guests and the owner cook meals together using home-grown rice and seasonal vegetables with no commercial spices. If requested, vegan meals and gluten-free meals can be made. You can also experience vegetable harvesting. The accommodation offers a long-stay plan in which you can experience a program featuring the full process of making fermented foods such as shio koji (fermented seasoning).

Yoshida Mura is 60 minutes away from Tokyo and is at the eastern edge of Shimotsuke City, Tochigi Prefecture, where the Kinu River runs nearby. It is a quiet area surrounded by fields. In lush green nature, Yoshida Mura produces rice, strawberries, asparagus, and onions. They have an Italian restaurant called Ristorante Italia Verace, where dishes are prepared with local agricultural ingredients to bring out the taste of nature’s blessing, and also a bakery called Yoshida Mura Bakery. At Ristorante Italia Verace, the chef who received culinary training in Italy makes dishes using plenty of ingredients freshly harvested by local partner farmers. The restaurant is the symbol of Yoshida Mura. At Yoshida Mura Bakery, Chef Numao, who practiced baking at famous bakeries such as The Standard Bakers, an authentic bakery based in Oya Town, Utsunomiya City, and Boulangerie Rire in Shimotsuke City, offers carefully crafted and baked bread.

Cottage Inn Restaurant & Bakery is a restaurant run by Kanaya Hotel Bakery, which is adjacent to the Kanaya Hotel History House. At the restaurant, you can enjoy a wide variety of combinations of bread from Kanaya Hotel Bakery and dishes prepared with fresh and high-quality ingredients hand-picked by the chef. The popular Lunch Plate offers choices of Hamburger Stew Stuffed Bread, a hearty dish of oven-baked campagne bread stuffed with a hamburger steak cooked in a demiglace sauce topped with cheese, Sautéed Yume Pork with Ginger Sauce using the Yume Pork brand produced in Tochigi Prefecture, and Beef Stew, a year-round popular dish made with the chef’s original recipe. The restaurant also has the Kanaya Hotel Bakery Shop with a rich lineup of bread and sweets such as cookies.

All staff at Midori Nouen love farming, want to make farming more fun, and believe in the power of farming. They grow strawberries of the Tochiotome and Tochi-Aika breeds, as well as asparagus and buckwheat. They prepare the soil using fully matured compost called Midori Compost and locally produced powder bamboo compost. The temperature around the farm fluctuates a lot and sometimes goes down to -8ºC. This makes vegetables grow while increasing their sweetness and tastiness in order to withstand the cold. Midori Nouen’s Tochi-Aika received the gold prize at the First National Strawberry Awards hosted by the Japan Vegetable Sommelier Association. At the shop on the farm, you can purchase not only strawberries but also processed products including strawberry jam, strawberry puree, and popcorn.

Ashikaga City, the "Small Kyoto" of Tochigi Pref., tinted with fantasy colors   Most famous spots like Bannaji Temple, Ashikaga School and Ashikaga Orihime Shrine would set up lamps, making visitors feel like they are in a dreamy and mysterious world.   The site of Ashikaga School, the oldest school of Japan, would display Flower Hand Water and Wagasa (Traditional umbrella) Light Show produced by Ashikaga Flower Park, and dreamy bamboo lanterns will be displayed in the bamboo forest on the campus.   In the National Treasure “Bannaji Temple”, the lanterns are placed on the bell tower, the main hall, and the 550-year-old ginkgo tree, so that you can enjoy the lanterns while experiencing the historical atmosphere of the temple.   Ashikaga Orihime Shrine, known as a “Sacred Place for Lovers”, would display 90 Ashikaga Meisen lamps on their staircase. The gorgeous Meissen motifs are illuminated by the colorful lights.

Toji-ba is a place where people stay for extended periods to undergo therapeutic treatments using hot spring baths. In Japan, this has long been cherished as a traditional method of promoting health and wellness. "Terayama Hot Spring" is said to have healing powers for various ailments. The high-quality spring water, rich in iron, is known as the "Miracle Bath" and comes highly recommended even by medical professionals. When consumed, it is effective in treating anemia, gastrointestinal diseases, and constipation. When used for bathing, it improves blood circulation, promoting detoxification and relieving various types of pain. Furthermore, the meals at the inn are prepared with the intention of "eating healthy and safe food to become energized," and they use organic vegetables grown without pesticides and local wild mountain vegetables. Please visit according to your travel style, whether it's a day trip or an overnight stay.   【About the Hot Spring】 Water color: Reddish brown (after heating) Quality: Ferruginous spring Therapeutic effects: Drinking: Anemia, gastrointestinal diseases, constipation, etc. Bathing: Neuralgia, rheumatism, gastrointestinal diseases, gynecological diseases, diabetes, atopic dermatitis, etc.

Kofukuji Temple in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, is a historic temple founded in 1460. For many years, it has been a beloved place of tranquility for local residents. The temple offers a variety of experiences, including traditional temple activities such as sutra copying and goma fire rituals, as well as more modern offerings like yoga (reservations are required) and lotus flower crafting. Everyone is welcome to participate. Despite its long history, Kofuku-ji Temple offers a warm and welcoming atmosphere, making it a perfect destination for those interested in experiencing Japanese culture.