Yusuhara Hachimangu Shrine

Yusuhara Hachimangu is a shrine at the foot of Mt. Futaba (also called Hachiman Yusuhara-yama) in Oita City, and it is the Ichinomiya (chief shrine) of the former Bungo Province. Its name is also read "Isuhara" or "Yusubaru," and it is sometimes written with different characters as Yuhara Hachimangu. The roughly 82,000-square-meter (25,000 tsubo) precincts are wrapped in deep forest and were designated a special protected forest on March 15, 1974. The enshrined deities are Emperor Chuai, Emperor Ojin and Empress Jingu.

The approach begins at the Nandaimon (South Great Gate), built in 1870 (Meiji 3). Between its pillars are carvings of the Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety, Yamato Takeru and other figures, and it is also known as the "Higurashi-mon" (Gate Where You Could Spend All Day). Beyond the gate, a path branches off from the main approach and climbs stone steps to the Romon gate; it is called the Chokushi-michi (Imperial Messenger Road). The Romon had its framework raised in 1759 (Horeki 9) and was completed the next year. A distinctive feature is the curved gable (kara-hafu) over the front of its lower story.

The main hall, whose framework was raised in 1850 (Kaei 3), is built in the Hachiman-zukuri style, and the grounds also hold the Saruden, the worship hall, the east and west treasure halls, the east and west corridors and the Nishi-mon (West Gate). Most of the buildings were rebuilt one after another following a fire in 1749 (Kanen 2); the treasure halls date from 1757 (Horeki 7), and the West Gate is thought to date from the end of the Edo period. In 2011, ten structures were designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan: the main hall, Saruden, worship hall, Romon, east and west treasure halls, east and west corridors, West Gate and South Gate.

The shrine is said to have been founded in the early Heian period. According to a Kamakura-period account kept by the shrine, the deity Hachiman descended in 830 (Tencho 7), and in 836 (Jowa 3) a shrine building was constructed by order of Emperor Ninmyo. From 998 (Chotoku 4), the custom began of rebuilding the shrine every 33 years, as at Usa Hachiman. A dispute with Sosakuta Shrine over which was the Ichinomiya of Bungo continued into the early modern period. In the Sengoku period the shrine was attacked because of the Christian faith of Otomo Yoshishige (Sorin), but in the Edo period it received generous protection from the lords of Funai Domain.

A highlight of the precincts is the "Camphor Tree of Yusuhara Hachimangu," a Natural Monument designated by the nation. A sacred tree standing beside the South Gate, it is said to be more than 3,000 years old. Ino Tadataka visited in 1811 (Bunka 8) and noted in his diary that there was a great camphor tree in the precincts, fourteen ken around. The shrine's cultural properties also include a bronze Buddhist statue, swords and the Yusuhara Hachimangu documents. The annual festival is the Hatsu-u-sai on March 15, and rites such as the Nagoshi-sai and the Chushu-sai (Hojo-e) are also still held.

By public transport, take a bus bound for Yusuhara from JR Nishi-Oita Station (about 10 minutes) and walk about 15 minutes from the last stop. By car, it is about 4 km from Oita IC on the Higashi-Kyushu Expressway via Prefectural Route 696, roughly 10 to 15 minutes, and there is parking for 50 cars. The precincts can be visited freely.