Oya History Museum – Historic Quarry Mine, Utsunomiya.

“The Oya History Museum (Ōya Shiryōkan) is a museum built inside a massive former stone quarry northwest of central Utsunomiya. The man-made caverns were originally developed during the Edo Period to mine Oya Stone, a soft, yet durable volcanic stone that is only found locally. Oya stone has been used over the centuries as a building material, and has been utilized in famous structures such as the facade of the former Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

“Evidence of mining can be seen all around the area, with huge slices taken out of the hillsides and giant voids carved into the mountains. The underground mines remained in operation until 1986, and by then an enormous series of caverns had been carved into the ground. A building sits at the entrance to the mines and houses a small museum that explains the history of the area and exhibits different mining tools used to excavate the rock over the centuries.”