Nasu Kokuzohi

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Nasu KokuzohiNational Treasureancient steleOtawarayear 700

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

In the year 700, the sons of Nasu no Atai Idé raised an inscribed stone to their late father, who had governed the province of Nasu. That stone still stands, sheltered under a stone canopy inside a small shrine in a village in northern Tochigi, and it is one of only three surviving ancient inscribed steles in Japan — the others are at Tako in Gunma and Taga Castle in Miyagi. It was designated a National Treasure in 1952.

The visit is not a museum experience. You go to the shrine office by the torii, pay, and the priest gives a fifteen to twenty minute explanation of the inscription and the history before the stone is shown. That structure is the reason the stele has survived in the condition it has, and it also means this is a National Treasure you cannot glance at in passing. There is no crowd, no gift shop and no queue — just an eighth-century stone and someone who knows what it says.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Viewing arranged at the shrine office during daylight hours — phone ahead to confirm availability

Closed: No fixed closing days | Viewing depends on the priest being present

Entrance Fee

¥500 (occasionally ¥200 during special periods)

Best Season

Year-round

Visit Duration

45–60 minutes including the explanation

Getting There

Access Information

429 Yuzukami, Otawara. Car required — this is a rural part of northern Tochigi. Viewing costs ¥500, occasionally reduced to ¥200 during special periods, and is arranged at the shrine office to the right of the torii. Expect a 15–20 minute explanation from the priest before the stele is shown. Confirm by phone before travelling, as viewing depends on someone being present.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Phone before you drive.** Viewing depends on the priest being available. This is a small village shrine, not a staffed museum, and arriving unannounced on a quiet weekday can mean nobody is there. **Allow for the talk.** The explanation runs fifteen to twenty minutes and comes before the viewing, in Japanese. Even without the language the structure of the visit — being told about the object before being allowed to see it — is a large part of what makes it memorable. **Understand what you are looking at.** The inscription commemorates a provincial governor who died in 700 and is one of three ancient steles in the country. Reading about the Nasu Kokuzohi before you go turns a stone under a canopy into something considerably more affecting. **Combine with the burial mounds.** The Kamifujioka Nagasaki kofun group and other tumuli are in the same district, which was a centre of the ancient Nasu polity. The stele makes far more sense in that context. **Pair it with Bato.** The Kengo Kuma Hiroshige museum is about forty minutes away, and the two together justify a drive into a part of Tochigi that has essentially no other visitors.

View on Google Maps