Nasu Stained Glass Museum

In the highland resort area of Nasu, a stone manor house modelled on England’s Cotswolds holds one of Japan’s loveliest collections of antique stained glass. Sunlight through century old windows, the sound of a pipe organ or music box drifting through stone rooms: the Nasu Stained Glass Museum trades in atmosphere, and it does it very well.

Inside the manor

The galleries centre on antique glass brought from Europe, much of it from British churches and homes, displayed in chapels and rooms built to let the light do the talking. The main chapel, with its glowing windows and regular organ interludes, is the emotional heart of the visit and a favourite wedding spot. Displays explain how the panels were made and restored, though most visitors simply drift from window to window watching the colours change with the sky.

Make your own light

Craft workshops let you assemble a small stained glass or glass bead piece to take home, a satisfying keepsake from a museum about light. There is also a cafe and a shop stocked with glassware, and the surrounding Nasu highlands offer outlets, farms and onsen to round out the day.

Getting there

Ride the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nasushiobara Station in about seventy five minutes, then reach the museum by taxi or local bus toward the Nasu highlands. Many visitors explore the area by rental car, which makes combining its scattered attractions much easier.

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