A theme park in the wilderness of Aso! Relax at a dome style hotel with microbrew, and onsen.

Sleep under the stars in a dome style hotel in the highlands

Aso Farm Village is group of dome shaped hotel rooms standing on a very expansive area about 100,000sqm in area, and surrounded by greenery and there is even a small river running through it. Although there it is far to walk from the reception area to the farthest room areas, there are shuttle buses for you to go eat or bathe in the onsen or go shopping.

At the farthest point is an observatory where you can see Mt. Aso and the huge a giant volcanic crater all in one view and at sundown the whole village takes on an otherworldly look. The view at night when the guest room lights are on is a sight to be seen as well. From outside the round domed guest rooms look small but when inside you find they are quite spacious and warm from all of them having heated floors. On clear nights you can see the stars from the skylight.

The guest rooms sleep from 2 to 6 people and there are many types of interior styles and furniture. The most affordable is the village zone, the royal zone is ranked one grade up with an arched gate and small yard, and the top tier are the elaborate private house area.

The Zoo of Light and Tunnel of Stars

In the evening the area around the restaurant building is lit up with 5 million lights so you can enjoy a night stroll. The lights in the crisp clean air of Aso are spectacularly beautiful. The 100m long Tunnel of Stars has starlight falling all over you, and there are also the 10m high Star Trees, as well as the Zoo of Light that you can enjoy. There are many animals made of light to look for here.

[Light show time and season] Season:: year round Time: sundown to 9pm (the lights are lit from 5pm in winter) *there are times when the light show times are changed to save on energy

The many baths of Aso Health Volcano Hot Springs

The main big bath house has been refurbished in March of 2012 to the Kenko Mineral Daiyokujyo (health mineral big bath house). You can relax even more in the power stone iron pot style bath, or the mineral earthenware bath. The large garden outdoor bath is spacious with 3300sqm each for men and women, and there are the cave bath, observatory bath, Chinese medicine bath, herb bath, warm relaxation room, and steam bath, so many it’s hard to imagine all of them.

The baths for men and women differ a little with the women’s having a stone bath, electric bath, radium bath, germanium stone floor bath. For men there are the brick bath, firefly aroma bath, and Aso iron lava bath. The Aso iron lava bath in the back (germanium stone floor bath for women) really feels good where you lay down on the floor that is heated and you sweat out everything.

For an extra fee you can also have a Aso Earth Power Spa, dome reduction bath, magma clay spa (Aso mud pack for women only), and Doctor Kiss Fish treatment which Cleopatra is said to have used to get maintain her beautiful skin. Be revitalized inside and out to feel better and be energized.

[Onsen Data] Hours: morning 6am to 9am (reception ends at 8:30am), daytime 11am to 12am (reception ends at 11pm) Entrance: morning 600 JPY, day 1200 JPY Onsen type: magnesium, calcium, sodium sulfate onsen. Temperature: 29.2℃

Healthy buffet World Kitchen

There are many choices for nourishment, western food at Balkan, healthy Japanese at Bakusaian, grilled meat in a pot Kenko Yakinikunabe, and Aso Farmland’s main dining World Kitchen is popular as well. For dinner there are 70 or so types of Japanese, western, Chinese, and other dishes from the rest of the world, along with salads and dishes copiously using homegrown vegetables and mushrooms.

Soft drinks are free, and there is ice cream and small cakes on hand, so you can have your just desserts. There is a selection of microbrew beers such as the original beer which uses pure underground water as well as 6 other local beers. There are many foods at this buffet that go good with beer so now is your chance to try all of these different beers out.

[World Kitchen fee for adults] Morning 1050 JPY, lunch 1575 JPY, dinner 2625 JPY

A buffet of epic proportions 70 different dishes

The various buffet menus have many items which use local ingredients, such as Kyo style zhajiangmian (Chinese dish of ground pork over wheat noodles) with Aso mustard plants, stewed daikon with horse radish, marinated boiled horse meat with lettuce, yams with Yuzu miso, mushroom rice, a veggie curry with lots of eggplant, and meat ball soup. At the gift shop you can buy the Kumamoto delicacies such as Lotus Root with horse radish, or raw horse meat popular as gifts.

There is also sirloin steak, chicken with miso mayonnaise sauce, Sicilian style rotisserie grilled golden threadfin bream, marinated salmon, fried tofu, waffles, and an assortment of hot teas. You can be thoroughly satisfied by the many items on the breakfast menu as well. Get filled up at breakfast for sightseeing activities that day.