Oita: Local Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines & Temples, Sightseeing | Japan 47 Prefecture Guide
Oita ranks first in Japan both for the number of hot spring sources and for the volume of water. Calling itself the hot spring prefecture is backed by the actual figures.
Local Specialties
Seki saba and Seki aji may carry the name only if they are taken by pole and line in the fast currents of the Hoyo Strait.
What makes the brand is men-eri, judging a fish's weight by eye without lifting it out of the water. Bare hands would spoil the flesh with their warmth. Not touching it is what the quality consists of.
Kabosu (first in Japan), dried shiitake (first in Japan), Bungo beef, toriten, and barley shochu.
Souvenirs
Kabosu ponzu and pepper, local rice cakes, barley shochu. And a Beppu bamboo basket.
Bamboo work developed at Beppu because visitors taking the waters wanted kitchen goods for long stays. The environment of a spa town created the market for a craft.
Sacred Sites | Shrines & Temples
Usa Jingu is the head shrine of Japan's Hachiman shrines (about 40,000 shrines). Usa Jingu and Fukiji and Usa Jingu Jogu holds National Treasures. 35 shrines and temples worth knowing in Oita.
Usa Jingu(Usa)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Buzen Province / One of the Three Great Hachiman Shrines / National Treasure / Kunisaki and Usa / Head shrine of Hachiman shrines (about 40,000 shrines) / Blessings: victory, warding off misfortune, good fortune
The Hachiman line is held to be the most numerous of all shrine networks in Japan. It enshrines Emperor Ojin, and spread nationwide once the Minamoto took him up as the guardian of the warrior class. Tsurugaoka Hachimangu too was divided from here. The main hall is a National Treasure: three halls standing side by side in the hachiman-zukuri style. Worship is two bows, four claps, one bow, the same form as at Izumo Taisha.
Fukiji(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: rebirth and renewal, warding off misfortune
Its great hall is a National Treasure, counted with the Konjikido at Chusonji and the Phoenix Hall at Byodoin among the three great Amida halls of Japan. The Kunisaki peninsula keeps the Rokugo Manzan faith, in which Shinto and Buddhism ran together.
Kumano Magaibutsu(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Historic Site / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A group of stone figures carved directly into the cliff, among the largest in Japan. You climb stone steps said to have been built by an ogre in a single night.
Yusuhara Hachimangu(Oita)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Bungo Province / Important Cultural Property / Natural Monument / Oita / Blessings: victory, warding off misfortune
First shrine of Bungo Province, its deity invited from Usa Jingu. The great camphor in its grounds is a Natural Monument.
Rakanji(Nakatsu)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Place of Scenic Beauty / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune
More than three thousand stone figures fill the hollows of the cliff. Counted among the three great rakan sites of Japan, it is inseparable from the scenery of Yabakei.
Usa Jingu Jogu(Usa)Shinto shrine / Head shrine of all Hachiman shrines / National Treasure / Kunisaki and Usa / Head shrine of Hachiman shrines (about 44,000 shrines nationwide) / Blessings: victory
Three main halls in the hachiman-zukuri style, all National Treasures. The head shrine of more than 40,000 Hachimangu across Japan.
Kurehashi(Usa)Shinto shrine / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: road safety
A roofed vermilion bridge. It is opened only when an imperial envoy passes.
Fukiji Odo(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
The oldest wooden building in Kyushu, and a National Treasure. An Amida hall to stand beside the Phoenix Hall at Byodoin.
Usuki Sekibutsu(Usuki)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Historic Site / Southern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The first stone figures in Japan to be designated National Treasures. Fifty-nine of them are carved into the cliff.
Maki Odo(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It gathers and houses the Buddhist figures of the Rokugo Manzan.
Rokugo Manzan(Kunisaki and nearby)Buddhist temple / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: mountain worship, rebirth and renewal
A group of temples across the Kunisaki peninsula. A distinctive culture fusing Shinto-Buddhist syncretism with mountain asceticism.
Monjusenji(Kunisaki)Buddhist temple / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: study and exams
Held to be the origin of the saying that three heads together have the wisdom of Monju.
Futagoji(Kunisaki)Buddhist temple / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: mountain worship, love and relationships
The head temple of the Rokugo Manzan. The Nio figures on its approach are famous.
Nakayama Senkyo(Bungotakada)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: mountain worship
A path of practice that crosses a ridge of rock. The Mumyo bridge spans it.
Unagihime Jinja(Yufu)Shinto shrine / Oita / Blessings: good harvests
At the foot of Mount Yufu. It carries a legend of a god who drained the water from a basin that had been a lake.
Hayasuihime Jinja(Oita)Shinto shrine / Oita / Blessings: good catches, safe voyages
It guards the sea of the Seki mackerel and Seki horse mackerel. It carries a legend of two diving women who recovered a sword.
Isshinji(Oita)Buddhist temple / Oita / Blessings: good fortune, long life
A temple in the hills near the Tsukano mineral spring. About 15,000 double-flowered cherry trees fill its grounds, and in April the whole mountain turns pale pink.
Sasamuta Jinja(Oita)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Bungo Province / Oita / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The other shrine claiming to be first of Bungo Province. Known for its wisteria.
Mannenzan(Kusu)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Oita / Blessings: mountain worship
Layered plateaus run one into another. A shugendo route passed through here.
Takatsuka Atago Jizoson(Hita)Buddhist temple / Oita / Blessings: good fortune, warding off misfortune
Said to have been founded by Gyoki. It is held to grant any wish without choosing, and over a hundred thousand come at new year.
Ohara Hachimangu(Hita)Shinto shrine / Oita / Blessings: victory
The tutelary shrine of Hita. The Gion festival of shogunal Hita is UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Taizoji(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: good fortune
It stands at the foot of the climb to the Kumano cliff Buddhas, and is known for the custom of sticking gold foil stickers on the figures.
Omotosan(Usa)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: mountain worship
Held to be the original mountain of Usa Jingu. Three great rocks stand at its summit.
Komo Jinja(Nakatsu)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: victory
Held to be the ancestral shrine of Usa Jingu. The Misumi pond itself is the deity. Its gate is an Important Cultural Property.
Kuranashihama Jinja(Nakatsu)Shinto shrine / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: safe voyages
An old shrine facing the Suo Sea.
Kawanaka Fudo(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune, fire protection
A Fudo triad is carved into a great rock standing in the river. It preserves the Shujo Onie rite.
Choanji(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It served as the administrative head of the Rokugo Manzan. Its Taroten figure is an Important Cultural Property.
Maki Odo(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune
It houses one of the largest groups of Buddhist figures in the Rokugo Manzan.
Iwatoji(Kunisaki)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Its Kunisaki pagoda is the oldest dated example in Japan. The Shujo Onie is held here every other year.
Senpukuji(Kunisaki)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Its Buddha hall and founder's hall are Important Cultural Properties. A Zen temple of Kunisaki.
Ryugenji(Usuki)Buddhist temple / Southern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A three-storey pagoda standing in the town of Usuki.
Hoki Sekibutsu(Usuki)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Southern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The largest group among the Usuki stone Buddhas. Imposing Nyorai figures fill four niches.
Yokenji(Saiki)Buddhist temple / Southern area / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The funerary temple of the Mori, lords of the Saiki domain.
Aizendo(Taketa)Buddhist temple / Important Cultural Property / Oita / Blessings: love and relationships
A vermilion hall cut into the rock face.
Fukiji Hekiga(Bungotakada)Buddhist temple / National Treasure / Kunisaki and Usa / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
The Pure Land is painted on the pillars and walls inside. The colour survives even as the surface flakes away.
Sightseeing
Usuki Stone Buddhas holds National Treasures. Breakdown: castle 1, historic townscape 3, hot spring 5, nature / scenery 3. 15 places to see in Oita.
Ao no Domon(Nakatsu)industrial heritage / Kunisaki and Usa / Historic Site / 1763
A tunnel the monk Zenkai spent thirty years cutting with a chisel. The subject of Kikuchi Kan's Beyond Love and Hate.
Beppu Jigoku(Beppu)hot spring / Oita / Place of Scenic Beauty
First in Japan for both the number of sources and the volume of water. People once could not go near, and called them hells.
Mameda(Hita)historic townscape / Oita / Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings / Preservation District for Traditional Buildings
It prospered as a territory ruled directly by the shogunate. Its money houses financed much of Kyushu.
Nagayu Onsen(Taketa)hot spring / Oita
One of the strongest carbonated springs in Japan. The custom of drinking the water survives.
Okajo(Taketa)castle / Oita / Historic Site / 1185
Held to be where Taki Rentaro conceived Moon over the Ruined Castle. Stone walls above a sheer cliff.
Yabakei(Nakatsu)nature / scenery / Kunisaki and Usa / Place of Scenic Beauty
A gorge of strange rock formations. One of the three new views of Japan.
Yufudake(Yufu)hot spring / Oita
The Fuji of Bungo. Its twin peaks look down on the hot spring town.
Yufuin Onsen(Yufu)hot spring / Oita
It decided early on against large-scale development. The morning mist over Lake Kinrin.
Usuki Stone Buddhas(Usuki)burial mound / archaeological site / Southern area / National Treasure / Historic Site
The first stone figures in Japan to be designated National Treasures. Fifty-nine of them on the cliff.
Yabakei(Nakatsu)nature / scenery / Kunisaki and Usa / Place of Scenic Beauty
A gorge of strange rocks, and the tunnel the monk Zenkai spent thirty years cutting.
Kunisaki(Kunisaki and nearby)historic townscape / Kunisaki and Usa
A distinctive group of temples fusing Shinto-Buddhist syncretism with mountain asceticism.
Kokonoe Yume Bridge(Kokonoe)industrial heritage / Oita / 2006
Among the largest pedestrian-only bridges in Japan, at 173 metres high.
Kitsuki(Kitsuki)historic townscape / Kunisaki and Usa
A sandwich castle town, with samurai quarters on the rises to north and south and the merchant town in the valley between.
Nagayu Onsen(Taketa)hot spring / Oita
One of the strongest carbonated springs in Japan. The custom of drinking the water survives.
Isshinji(Oita)nature / scenery / Oita
About 15,000 double-flowered cherry trees in the hills of Tsukano. In April the whole mountain turns pale pink.
Traditional Crafts
One craft holds national designation: Beppu bamboo work.
Bamboo is split fine into strips and woven. There are four basic weaves, and combining them is said to give more than a hundred. The madake bamboo of Oita is springy and suits the work. The only public training school in Japan devoted to bamboo craft is in this city.
More: VILLAGE Journal vol.6 — The bathers who made the market（リンク先は現在公開されていません）
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Sources: Oita Prefecture, City of Beppu, City of Yufu, City of Usa, Ministry of the Environment, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village editorial team