Asaba begins in 1484. That year the ancestor Asaba Yakuro Yukitada came to Shuzenji for the founding of its Soto Zen temple and, while keeping the hall, opened a shukubo, a pilgrims' lodging, in front of the gate. What cannot be replaced, though, stands out in the garden: the Noh stage "Gekkeiden", given to the house by Viscount Maeda Toshika, former lord of the Daishoji domain, and moved here from Tokyo in the late Meiji years by Asaba Yasuemon, the seventh of the line. For some forty years the inn has run that stage as Asaba Geijutsu Kiko, bringing in masters of the first rank by season for Noh, Kyogen, Shinnai and dance. The nine evenings of 2026 include the Living National Treasures Shinnai Nakasaburo, Nomura Mansaku and Inoue Yachiyo, along with Onoe Kikugoro VIII, Matsumoto Koshiro and Nomura Mansai; the run goes from 18 March to 9 June, each performance beginning at five in the evening. For a guest that changes the shape of the trip. It is no longer a night at an onsen. It is the night that particular master is standing on that stage.
Why it stays with you