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Nikko NP, Tochigi
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
Ornithologist Yukiyasu Kiyosu’s bird encyclopedia was nearly destroyed in Tokyo’s 1945 air raids. He rewrote it in Shiobara; the 3-volume work appeared in 1952, 14 years after he began—a story honored in the visitor center’s Kiyosu corner.
Shiobara’s soup yakisoba began with a delivery problem: in 1955, a shop’s soup spilled on the way to a customer. The cook combined the soup with the yakisoba instead; it took 2–3 years to perfect the dish.
Tote-yaki turns the trumpet-shaped horn of Shiobara’s old horse-drawn tote carriages into a snack. Its castella-like wrapper uses local milk and eggs, while fillings vary by shop—from sweets to noodles or meat.
The visitor center introduces 20 Shiobara birds with wooden carvings and recordings of their calls. Several local tits look alike, but their songs differ—a small exhibit that turns birdwatching into a listening game.
Shiobara’s 11 hot-spring districts include 6 of Japan’s 10 spring types and waters described in 7 colors, from black and milky white to pale green and clear. The visitor center’s movable model explains how the springs emerge.
About 300,000 years ago, a lake filled Shiobara’s volcanic basin. Alternating light and dark lake-floor layers are thought to mark years; they preserve more than 170 kinds of plants, as well as fossils of insects, fish and frogs.
Around O-numa, a highland wetland visited on Shiobara nature walks, researchers recorded 10 of Tochigi’s 16 amphibian species. The area is also known for large breeding sites of forest green tree frogs and black salamanders.
Motoyu, regarded as Shiobara’s original hot-spring village, once had 85 homes. After major earthquakes in 1659 and 1683, some residents moved about 2.5 km to open Arayu—literally, “new hot spring.”
Kiyosu Yukiyasu used his Shiobara holiday home as a research base for more than 20 years. His fieldwork identified Shiobara as habitat for birds including the spotted nutcracker, goldcrest, treecreeper and golden eagle.
Nasushiobara City identifies novelist Tayama Katai’s 1918 use of onsenkyō for Shiobara’s 11 springs as Japan’s first recorded example of the term. It means a hot-spring region—the kind of place Shiobara has long been.
The visitor center’s volunteer Park Conductors do more than lead nature walks: they help check and clean trails, support maintenance and join forest-care activities. Guiding visitors goes hand in hand with looking after Shiobara’s park landscape.
Ōami means “big net,” recalling nets hung from steep river cliffs to catch fish trapped among rocks. At Fukuwata, a local saying claims a strong tailwind can push a bicycle uphill without pedaling.
Shiogama is home to Shiobara’s hottest springs, and its name means “salt kettle.” Local legend says the hot water once warmed kettles used to extract salt—a geothermal tale tied to the name of this spring area.
