Travel guide to Tochigi prefecture — Ashikaga, Nikko, Nasu, parks and temples.
Inside Ashikaga Gakko — Japan’s oldest academic institution, operating continuously since the 9th century. Confucian academy, 3,000 students at its peak, Jesuit-recognised. Plus the broader Ashikaga cultural triangle with Banna-ji and Orihime Shrine.
The Sakasagawa walking course in northern Ashikaga — a 4km cherry-lined levee path along a quiet tributary of the Watarase River, part of the city’s broader Flower Walking Course. Local walking with zero tourists.
Orihime Jinja on Mt Orihime in Ashikaga — the 1705 shrine dedicated to the weaver goddesses of the town’s 1,200-year silk industry, now eastern Japan’s busiest matchmaking shrine. Plus the Enmusubizaka stairs and Tanabata festival.
Keisokuji is a small Shingon Buddhist temple in Ashikaga, Tochigi — number 17 on the 33-Kannon sacred-sites pilgrimage. Plus the broader Ashikaga temple circuit including Banna-ji and Kotokuji.
The Nasu plateau has been the Japanese imperial family’s summer resort since 1926. Inside the 8th-century Shika no Yu bathhouse, Mt Chausu’s still-smoking crater, the safari lion-bus, and the quiet Nakagawa river valley next door.
