Where fire meets earth,
land and people keep a promise.
The Essence of
Aso Retreat
To meet nature on its own terms.
This is the harmony Aso teaches.
Here, each experience becomes part of a single thread, tracing the memory of the land.
Mount Aso
A land nurtured by one of the world’s
great calderas and its abundant nature
Thousand-Year Grassland
Timeless grassland, kept alive
by people and nature
Cycle
The cycle of fire and water, grass and life
has shaped this land
Living with Nature
Grazing, farming and daily wisdom
shape a culture lived with nature
Primal Memory
A land alive with memories
of fire and starlit skies
Gifts of the Earth (Onsen)
Hot springs born of the earth
gently restore body and mind
Foraging
Walking the hills to find
each season’s gifts
Primitive Gastronomy
An unadorned dining experience that draws out
the land’s bounty with minimal cooking
Restoring Our Humanity
Story
For thousands of years, Aso has been shaped by the interplay of volcanic forces and human hands.
Step into Aso’s open country and encounter something primal:
the land at its most elemental.
Sunlight cleanses the earth. Black soil drinks the rain.
Tender green shoots unfurl.
Pause within that cycle.
The senses awaken. You return to yourself.
Here, you step into an endless story still being woven between the land and its people.
Grounds Map
Tap a category to see an overview.
GROUNDSHotel groundsLOBBYLobby
A Day at HONO
Prologue
A little distance from your everyday self.
Arrive in Aso and breathe deeply.
The journey begins with the plants. As you walk the garden, a childhood absorption returns.
Foraging
Aso
A taste of Aso.
Grind the plants you have gathered into a wild tea.
With a cup you brewed yourself, welcome the nature of Aso into your body.
Spring
Water
Drawing water from the earth.
Reach into clear spring water and drink.
Touch the everyday life of a village of water.
Onsen
Scent, hot water and mountains
Oguni cedar you have shaved yourself, paired with wild plants, joins you in the bath. Gazing at the mountains of Aso, surrender to scent and water.
Primitive
Gastronomy
Gather around the fire and taste the earth.
As dusk falls, a fire is lit in the garden and dinner begins.
The scent of plants, the power of fire. Elemental flavors awaken the senses.
Nightfall
Listening to the voices of the wild.
Dim the lights and the mountain night draws near.
Listen to the voices in the grass, and become one of its presences.
Morning
Light
Waking with the earth.
Mornings when the grass glows in the sunrise.
Mornings of sea of clouds, mornings of rain.
No two are the same, and in each
you learn the rhythm of the earth.
Into
Aso
Into the fields of Aso.
The plants, the food, the people of Aso you met at the hotel.
Now visit the Aso that lies beyond, carrying your newfound curiosity.
Room
17 Rooms, Each with a Private Onsen
Set within the Aso Caldera, each room looks out
toward Aso’s Five Peaks: Takadake, Nakadake,
Nekodake, Eboshidake and Kishimadake.
Wide windows and terraces open onto a landscape
that changes with the seasons, the hour and the weather.
Every room has an open-air onsen bath, and select rooms a sauna:
an intimate stay immersed in the landscape of Aso.
Aso
Foraging
Experience
From the hotel, dive into the nature of Aso.
Beside the restaurant is an edible garden centered on native plants.
From a harvest dinner in the garden to foraging journeys deep into the hills beyond the hotel.
Inside
Retreat
A connection with nature,
savored within the grounds.
HONO Workshops
Seasonal handwork
with the land’s natural materials.
Edible Garden
Harvest more than 30 kinds of wild plants
and bring them to the restaurant next door.
Welcome Drink
Plants picked by guests in the garden,
ground in a mortar of volcanic stone.
In-room Spa
Quiet time in your room,
wrapped in scent and calm.
Inside
Retreat
A connection with nature,
savored within the grounds.
Mountain Garden
A small forest on the grounds
where you gather the season’s bounty.
Life in Aso
The land’s other residents,
sharing the same landscape as us.
Outside
Retreat
Into the hills and to the producers.
Explorations through the seasons.
Spring
Wild vegetables and herbs,
strawberry picking in Aso
Outside
Retreat
Into the hills and to the producers.
Explorations through the seasons.
Summer
A road trip
in search of summer vegetables
Winter
Making koji and preserved
Aso takana greens
Autumn
Walking the golden fields
with horses
Return to the primal. Awaken the senses.
A retreat in Aso where you receive, with your whole body,
a landscape revealed only in this season,
in this fleeting moment.
Restaurant
Aso Primitive
Gastronomy
Follow life back to the sea.
Spring water rises in Aso, gathers into rivers and flows on to the waters of Kumamoto.
Following the path of this water, restaurant ASATO (阿然人) brings to the table the cycle this land has long held dear.
The crackle of firewood, the scent of straw,
the energy of nature, carried directly into each dish.
Cutting, grilling, smoking: elemental acts
that carry the memory of fire and wind,
and of a way of eating the modern world has almost forgotten.
Partners
Co-Producer
Japan
Botanical
Lab
Japan Botanical Lab
Under the banner “Turning Japan’s forests into mountains of treasure,” Japan Botanical Lab has long drawn out the culinary value of plants native to Japan’s forests. HONO welcomed the lab as its producing partner.
From the hotel’s concept to the design of the edible garden and back hills from a foraging perspective, one of HONO’s core experiences, the lab also supervises the experiences across the grounds.
Vegetation Partner
Greenelm
Greenelm
A forest design company led by a doctor of forestry. Since its founding in 1989,
it has germinated plants from seed and grows some 500 species
of grasses and trees, including rare heirloom varieties.
Greenelm works with HONO as partner for sourcing seedlings,
construction management and maintenance of the edible garden and back hills.
