Nasu History Museum

The Nasu History Museum is located in Ashino, a historic outpost along the main road during the Edo era (1600–1868), which the famous traveling Zen poet Matsuo Basho (1644–1694) immortalized in his haiku diary Oku-no-hoso-michi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North). The museum was established to tell the rich history of the town of Nasu; its site contains a variety of historic elements, including a restored gate, an old storehouse, and a stone column from an earlier elementary school. To tie these items together, Kuma enclosed them in a simple, long, transparent glass building.