REPORT

”Highway Oases” are connected to highway service areas and parking areas and provide access to parks and other amenities without leaving the highway. Oasis Obuse is a highway oasis adjacent to the spacious Obuse Park that also connects with a michi-no-eki (roadside station) located on an adjacent road. The oasis is served by two parking lots, with one along Prefectural Route 343 in addition to the one off the Joshinetsu Expressway PA, and one includes shaded spaces under the main building (pictured). The attached Obuse Smart IC is at the back of the road on the right side of the photo.
[Oasis Obuse]

The “Shinshu Furusato Set” and “Chestnut Okowa Tantanmen” are popular items served in the open-air restaurant (pictured). Chestnut Okowa is also available for take-out. There is an eat-in space that can be used for things like chestnut or Obuse milk soft serve, or “Obuse Milk Pudding” which is made with not only Obuse milk, but also with Obuse-raised eggs.
[Oasis Obuse・Restaurant]

There are two produce outlets selling directly from farmers: the JA Nagano Obuse shop and “Obuse Monogatari”, and now is the beginning of the season for Kawanakajima white peaches, Shinshu blueberries, plums, and prunes, while mid-August will bring grapes, including famous varieties like Shine Muscat and Kyoho. Peaches are inexpensive even at supermarkets, at about JPY200 per peach, but today six early-season peaches were on sale for JPY400.
[Oasis Obuse・Direct Produce Outlets]

The souvenir shop (pictured) also had a large selection of items typical of Obuse, the home of chestnuts. A variety of chestnut-based sweets from five long-standing area confectioners were on display, including yokan, kanoko, and monaka. Shosen-do, pictured in the foreground, is a small chestnut confectionery that uses chestnuts grown in its own garden in Obuse and handles all aspects of the confectionery process, from production to sales. The shop is a 3-minute drive from the Obuse Highway Oasis. The store, by the way, is well known to those in the know and looks like an ordinary private home.
[Oasis Obuse・Souvenir Shop]

　
[Oasis Obuse]
*Address … 601 Oaza Oshima, Obuse-cho, Kamitakai-gun, Nagano Prefecture
*Open period … Year round
*Opening Hours … Weekdays 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Weekends and holidays 9:00 – 8:00 p.m. (*Changes according to the season.)
Parking … Free
　
reported by Snownavi