Japan Heritage Utsunomiya, Home of Oya Stone Underground Adventure

The remains and evidence of stone “quarrying” culture can be seen is said that there used to be about 250 quarries in Oya. Most of them are underground and some are even 100 meters below the surface. At the end of gallery is a huge opening with a ceiling 30 meters high with pillars. It all used to be one huge mass of stone and you can see the trace of quarrying on the walls.
Before machinery was introduced in the mid-1960s, quarrying was done by hand. It required stonemasons to pick axe about 4,000 times just to quarry an 18x30x90 centimeter-piece of stone. One can only imagine the stupendous amount of work and the man power that went into this place.
In the chilly gallery, pillars that support the ceiling stand in line with lights that illuminate the passage ahead creating shadows in layers setting a mysterious scene. Make a turn at the huge pillar and the same scene greets you with pillars standing tall. You will gradually lose your sense of directions. Yes, this indeed is a huge subterranean mega labyrinth crafted expertly by stonemasons’ hand.