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Aso-Kuju NP, Kumamoto
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Two rain-fed ponds mark overlapping craters: the western one sits in a basin formed about 30,000 years ago; the eastern one marks a younger crater blasted through a lava dome. Part of that dome survives as Komadateyama.
Since 1979, amateur motorcyclists have gathered at Kusasenri every 10 years for a mass portrait that becomes a photo book. The 1999 and 2009 gatherings each drew more than 3,000 riders.
Those grazing animals belong to a working landscape: Aso’s grass feeds livestock, hay is saved for winter, and manure has traditionally fertilized fields. This cycle also helps sustain the grassland behind local Akaushi beef.
Aso City’s Geopark newsletter records Helen Keller visiting Kusasenri and writing a verse about foals playing on the grass and skylarks singing overhead—a remarkable literary footnote to this famous pasture.
The small ponds can freeze in cold weather. Aso’s mountain visitor center recalls that people once skated on Kusasenri’s ponds—a natural rink formed by rainwater and winter temperatures.
Kusasenri’s grassland burning resumed in 2016 after a pause dating to 1968. Local pasture groups, governments and conservationists restarted the practice, initially burning 30 hectares; by 2022, the full 62 hectares were burned.
Old records grouped Kusasenri and nearby Sunasenri under “Senrigahama,” describing an expanse as wide as a shore stretching to the horizon. Despite the name, Kusasenri is a volcanic grassland, not a beach.
The calm pasture inspired modern poets including Tatsuji Miyoshi, Kichiyoshi Nakamura and Isamu Yoshii. Their verses celebrated a gentler side of Aso, far from the image of an erupting volcano.
Aso’s controlled spring burns clear shrubs and old grass without burning deep into the soil, where seeds and insects can survive. Fresh pasture can then return—one reason Kusasenri’s grassland needs active care.
In 2013, Kusasenri and nearby Komezuka were jointly designated both a National Scenic Place and a Natural Monument. The recognition honors the landscape’s beauty as well as its scientific value as a record of volcanic activity.
