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Nikko NP, Tochigi
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Chausu’s summit dome is a medieval creation: eruptions from 1408 to 1410 built it. The same disaster sent mudflows down the slopes, killing more than 180 people and many cattle and horses.
At Chausu’s foot, Shika-no-yu means “Deer Bath.” Local legend says a wounded white deer healed in its waters; a historical record from 738 already mentions Nasu Onsen.
On Chausu’s west slope, 2 blast craters keep steaming. One is nicknamed Mugen Jigoku, or “Endless Hell”; yellow sulfur crystals form near the vents.
At Chausu’s foot, sulfurous Sessho-seki is famous as the “poison stone” of a nine-tailed fox legend. Though the tale is set in the Heian era, it first appears in writing in 1445.
Each May, Nasu’s Goshinka-sai honors the fox spirit with a torchlit walk from Nasu Onsen Shrine to nearby Sessho-seki. A performer in a golden fox mask beats a taiko by the fire.
In 2022, the famous Sessho-seki rock at Chausu’s foot split in two. Local tourism organizers then held a memorial for the fox spirit and a prayer for peace.
The Nasu range is a volcanic family of very different ages: its oldest peak began forming about 500,000 years ago, while Chausu, the youngest, started erupting about 16,000 years ago.
Though Chausu dominates the skyline, it is not the Nasu range’s highest summit: at 1,915 m, it stands just 2 m below Sanbon-yari’s 1,917 m.
On Chausu, trees give way around 1,400 m—well below its 1,915 m summit. Exposed rock and sulfurous gas make the upper slopes so harsh that plants scarcely grow.
A steam eruption in 1881 sent ash down Chausu and harmed fish in the Nakagawa River—a reminder that even a relatively small eruption can affect the surrounding landscape.
The old onsen settlement below Chausu stood along the Yukawa until torrential rain triggered a disastrous landslide on June 14, 1858. The hot-spring district then moved to higher ground.
Every May 8, a priest leads the Nasu Range’s opening-of-season rite at Nasu-dake Shrine on Chausu’s summit, praying for climbers’ safety—a mountain-worship tradition that continues today.
