Ōya History Museum

The Ōya History Museum is a history and geological museum set inside a former stone quarry in Utsunomiya, Japan. Underground chambers stretch 30 meters (98 feet) below ground and cover 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) of excavated area with carved walls and ceilings.

Workers quarried Ōya stone here from 1919 until 1986, when extraction ended after more than six decades. The site opened as a museum in 1979, converting the working mine into a public space while operations continued nearby.

The space demonstrates how miners worked with the soft green tuff stone, which appears in temples, warehouses, and homes across Japan. Local builders chose this stone for its workability and fire resistance, making it central to regional construction traditions.

The site offers multilingual pamphlets, free internet access, and baggage storage for visitors. Opening hours differ between summer and winter months, and the underground area remains cool throughout the year.

The caverns preserve tool marks left by hand-cutting workers, visible on pillars and walls throughout the chambers. Contemporary artists use the space for projection mapping installations that transform the stone surfaces each season.

Location: Utsunomiya

Inception: 1979

Official opening: 1979

Website: http://oya909.co.jp

GPS coordinates: 36.59996,139.82475

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:25