On the edge of a caldera – Northern Mountain Restaurant and Daikanbo Lookout

5 November 2024

Driving along the Aso Skyline Highway is a “must do” on a road trip in Kyushu. It is a 45 kilometer route that winds along the mountain ridge of the Aso Outer Mountain Ring. Renowned for its stunning panoramic views, this scenic route provides many opportunities to experience the natural beauty of the region. The road is actually on the northern edge of the Aso Caldera.

A caldera is a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses. In the case of Aso Caldera, this massive eruption occurred 90,000 years ago and formed the many unique natural features and landscape in Kyushu. We had seen them at Nabegataki Falls and also Kikuchi Gorge in the morning.

Aso's caldera stretches 25 kilometers north to south and 18 kilometers east to west which is almost the world’s largest caldera. In the center of the caldera, there are five volcanic peaks where they are referred to collectively as Mount Aso (阿蘇山). One of them, Mount Nakadake, is still spewing volcanic gases but yet accessible to visitors.  

Diagram of the Aso Caldera showing the perimeter and the 5 volcanic peaks within.

We drove on the Aso Skyline Road (Highway 45) from Kikuchi Gorge towards Aso city where we planned to stay for the night. There are many breathtaking vistas of the Aso caldera and the majestic mountains that define the landscape.

There were a number of observation spots along the way. We stopped at the Nishiyunoura Scenic Overlook where we planned to have lunch in the Kitayama or North Mountain Restaurant located there.

Nishiyunoura Scenic Overlook

We arrived at the Nishiyunoura Scenic Overlook and went to the North Mountain Restaurant located there. It was already past lunch time at 2 PM and even then, there were people waiting for seats. This restaurant is popular with bikers. We saw many of them in their smart leather outfits waiting for seats as well. We wrote our names on the waitlist and went to enjoy the views from the lookout point.

North Mountain Restaurant offers lunch with a view.

We could see the checkerboard patterns of the fields and Aso City below. In the horizon, we saw the 5 mountain peaks that formed a silhouette of a person lying down. A signboard showed the names of the five peaks.

Farmlands in the Aso caldera.

View of Aso City and the 5 mountain peaks within the center of the caldera.

Signboard at Nishiyunoura observatory.

Lunch at the North Mountain Restaurant

After 30 minutes of enjoying the views and braving the strong winds at the caldera’s edge, we were seated inside.

Menu in Japanese that we used Google Translate to decipher.

The North Mountain Restaurant serves the Akaushi beef from the rare Japanese brown cattle breed that is raised solely in the Aso region. The menu outside the restaurant was in Japanese. A friendly solo woman traveller who understood Japanese saw us using Google Translate on our phone and helped us with the menu. The menu includes pork cutlet with curry rice, horse sashimi, beef steak and hamburgers.

The restaurant’s famous Akaushi rice bowls came in three sizes S, M and L. The only difference is the amount of rice. My wife ordered the small beef rice bowl that came with soup, tofu, pickles and salad.

Small beef rice bowl.

A highly recommended and popular item is the double red beef bowl called Super Baikuudon (bike bowl) for 2800 yen. This is probably targeted at bikers who have a big appetite. I ordered the Baikuudon, planning to share some of the beef with my wife.

Double red beef bowl for the meat lover.

Look at the red and juicy slices of beef.

Although it is slightly tougher than the typical wagyu beef, the Akaushi beef with the special sauce was delicious.

After lunch, we continued along the Aso Skyline eastwards. This road is also nicknamed as the Milk Road. This road was serving as a route for transporting milk from the dairy farms in the Aso valley. We saw many farms along the scenic drive.

Although there are numerous scenic places to stop, we went directly to Daikanbo since it offered the best views and is Aso's most famous lookout point.

On the road again to Daikanbo.

A red tractor on a farm along Aso’s Milk Road.

Daikanbo Lookout Point

Daikanbo (大観峰) is a natural observatory located on the highest peak on the northern rim of Mount Aso’s caldera. Daikanbo, which means large observatory, is named for its panoramic views of the Aso caldera, the five central peaks of Mount Aso, Oita’s Kuju Mountain range and the rolling grasslands inside the caldera. Entry to the lookout point is free and the best views were only a short walk from the free car park.      

Information board explaining how Aso Caldera was formed.

Stone marker at Daikanbo (大観峰) Lookout. 

At Daikanbo, which is 936 meters above sea level, we could see the best views of ‘Nehanzo’, the sleeping Buddha silhouette formed by the five Aso central mountains of Mt. Neko, Mt. Takadake, Mt. Nakadake, Mt. Eboshi, and Mt. Kishima. We could see clouds of gas emitting from the active Mount Nakadake.

The silhouette of the lying Buddha in the distance.

View of the farmlands and Aso city below and the head and chest of the lying Buddha in the back.

The sun rays through the clouds on this day was truly beautiful.

Autumn grass blowing in the wind.

The wind at the edge of the caldera was quite strong and Daikanbo is a good spot for paragliding.

Windsock showing the direction and strength of the wind at Daikanbo.

It was nice to watch the paraglider sailing over us.

The setting sun would paint the autumn grasslands orange but we could not stay to watch the sunset.

Daikanbo is also a good place to watch the sunset. We did not stay for the sunset as we had to arrive at our hotel before 6 PM, in time for dinner.

From Daikanbo, we headed down the mountain road into the caldera towards Aso City. We would be staying at Minshuku Asogen for one night before heading up to see the 5 volcanoes within Mount Aso up close.