Prior to the onset of magmatic activity at the Nakadake first crater, Aso Volcano (SW Japan) from July 2019 to June 2020, multiple small eruptions occurred between April and May 2019. The May 3-5 eruption was one of the largest events during the pre-magmatic activity period. An ash-fall deposit from the early stage of that eruption (15 : 00-18 : 00 in JST on May 3) was distributed to the south of the source crater, whereas the ash erupted after 20 : 00 on May 3 was dispersed southwestwards. The May 3 15 : 00-18 : 00 ash was composed mainly of fine particles (<0.25 mm in diameter) and fell as accretionary lapilli (<0.8 mm). In contrast, ash after 20 : 00 on May 3 consisted mainly of 0.5 mm grains but lacked silt and clay content. Based on an isomass map, the total discharged mass of the May 3-5, 2019 eruption was about 700 tons. Although lithic (50 %) and altered glass (30-40 %) grains were dominant in both ash-fall deposits, they also included small amounts of black to pale-brown fresh glass shards (2-4 %) inferred to be juvenile material originating from newly ascending magma. After the May 3-5 event, small ash emissions occurred intermittently until July 2019. The proportions of fresh glass shards included in the May-July 2019 ash-fall deposits gradually increased; ash erupted in early July contained 7 % fresh glass grains. Small-scale magmatic activity began on July 26, 2019, and continued to mid-June 2020. The April to early July 2019 ash emissions at Nakadake first crater are inferred to be precursor phenomenon of the late July 2019 to mid-June 2020 magmatic eruptions. It is very important to clarify temporal variations in the mass and component characteristics of erupted materials for understanding the sequence of events and predicting future eruptive activity.