See

Kurita Museum

栗田美術館

A beautifully landscaped 24-acre park whose carefully designed buildings house one of the finest and largest collections of Imari and Nabeshima porcelain in the world. Other exhibits include historical and archaeological information. There is also a small atelier and a climbing kiln near the base of the hill, and a working (but off-limits) potters' village behind the sprawling complex. The gift shop inside the gates offers ceramics of greater distinction and quality than the huge, A-frame gift shop across the large parking lot.

Address: Komaba-cho 1542
Getting there: walkers can take the JR train one stop east to Tomita, then walk back west along Old Route 50 and turn right across a railway overpass toward a cluster of black brick and white plaster buildings easily visible and well signposted on a hill
Hours: Daily except at New Year's 10:00-17:00 (18:00 on Sundays and holidays)
Price: Admission ¥1550 per adult
Website: ansible-japan.com (opens in a new tab)

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Listing from Wikivoyage: Ashikaga, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

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Ashikaga Flower Park
あしかがフラワーパーク
A 20-acre park most famous for its four huge wisteria arbors, in bloom from mid April to mid May, the park contains such a wide variety of flowers and trees that it is worth seeing in any season: plum blossoms in February–March, hydrangeas in June–July, lotus flowers in May–October, purple sage in October–November, and roses in May–June and September–November Lights adorn the trees in midwinter. The western side of old Ashikaga is bounded by the Ashikaga Park hillsides, containing large mound tombs from the pre-Buddhist Kofun Period (roughly AD 300-700). At the park entrance is a large souvenir shop and a beer restaurant open 10:00 to 19:00.
The opening time will change according to the season.The admission fee changes according to the season
Do
Natural Indigo Dyeing Airoza
天然藍染藍絽座
You can create your own design natural indigo dyeing cloth within one hour. Choose what you like from Handkerchief (¥1000), Japanese Towel (¥2000), Cotton Stole (¥3000), Tote Bag Small (¥3500), Tote Bag Large (¥4500), T-shirt 100-130cm (¥3500), T-shirt 140cm-XXXL (¥5000). English and Japanese speaking instructor will guide how to make design and dye. Also you can buy natural indigo dyed clothes such as blouses, tunics, shirts, T-shirts, skirts and more.
Closed · opens 10 am¥1000
See
Ashikaga School
足利学校 ashikaga gakkō
Known as Japan's oldest university, Ashikaga School was established during the 1400s by deputy shogun Uesugi Norizane (although some credit Lord Ashikaga Yoshikane during the Kamakura period, and still others claim it dates from either the Nara or the Heian period). In any case, by the 1500s, St. Francis Xavier and other foreign missionaries recognized Ashikaga School as the most famous university in eastern Japan. The school was abolished after the Meiji Restoration and then converted into an elementary school when the site passed into city control in 1902. After a decade of preparatory work, the original grounds of Ashikaga School were beautifully restored in 1990 as a National Historic Site, a designation it received in 1921. The thatched-roof buildings and manicured grounds are well worth seeing.
Daily 09:00-16:30 (16:00 October–March). Closed 3rd Mon October–March, 3rd Tue April–September¥400 per adult
Do
Ashikaga Machinaka Yūgakkan
足利まちなか遊学館
This "play-learn" emporium not only exhibits locally made textiles and actual working looms and braiding and threading machines, it also offers weaving lessons on small handlooms. ¥400 per lesson (30-45 minutes).
Daily 09:00-17:00; closed 3rd Mon every month and at year end