a Traditional Dance Throughout the Ages

　At Harada Shrine in Kitabaru, Nakatsu, a puppet show is performed every year at the start of February as an e...

the Cradle of Life

　The coastline Suounada spanning Oita and Fukuoka, that is, the area between Kanmon Strait in the Buzen Sea and the base...

a Blend of Boulders, Trees, and Water

　Yabakei Valley is mostly a mesa (table-shaped plateau). Yamakuni River and its tributaries have carved deep grooves int...

the Origins of Granaries

　Also a famous cherry blossom spot, Osada Park is situated less than five kilometers southeast from the city center of N...

Created by Rock Formations and the Human Hand

　Though called by the single name Yabakei Valley, this area is actually fairly expansive. The range nationally designate...

Hallowed Grounds Keeping the Light of Buddhism

　Go upstream a little from Kyoushu Peak and Ao-no-Doumon Tunnel, bases of tourism in the main Yabakei Valley, and enter ...

a Place of 18 Years of Learning

　Yukichi Fukuzawa was born in an Osaka storehouse of the Nakatsu Clan in January 1835. This was because his father, Momo...

a Living Cultural Property

　Oita is the leading area when it comes to “stone culture,” including 70 to 80 percent of the nation’s Magaibutsu Buddha...

Invoking Joy

　In rural Oita, especially when walking along streets of old homes that were once a village, you’ll come across lightly ...

Deep Ties to Usa Jingu Shrine

　The sandy shallow beaches on the coastline from Nakatsu in the north part of the prefecture facing Suounada to Usa and ...

the Foundation of Japanese Culture

　The ancient Usa culture was the first true culture to blossom in Toyo-no-Kuni (an old name for the area), influencing t...

an Ancient Creature Still Living Today

　In 19th century Europe, scholars struggled with a strange, unidentified fossil. Among these were scholars who claimed i...

a Cool Trekking Route

　Takkiri Ravine is located in a nook of one of the ten gorges of Yabakei, Shiiya Yabakei Gorge. When people hear Shiiya,...

Where the Chief of the Land Rests

　On the plateau on the right bank of the Yakkan River flowing through Usa is Usa Fudoki Hill. This is a historical site ...

a Buddha Floating in a Rock Cave

　A small temple built in the kake-zukuri (overhanging) style sits inside an enormous rock cave as though it had been thr...

Tales of Agonizing Experience

　There are ruins of war all over Oita Prefecture, which speak of the horrors of war and human suffering, but many of the...