Important Cultural Landscapes of Oita

Himeshima, a small volcanic island off the Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita Prefecture, is home to roughly 1,800 residents living as a single self-contained village. Designated an Important Cultural Landscape of Japan in 2021, the entire island and its surrounding waters preserve a rare way of life in which fishing, salt-making, and kuruma prawn aquaculture are sustained through community-wide stewardship of natural resources. Discover the volcanic landscape, the celebrated Bon Dance, the seven legendary wonders, and the unforgettable Himeshima kuruma prawn — a quiet, deeply rooted island where sea and community live as one.

Discover Tashibu no Sho Ozaki, an Important Cultural Landscape in Bungotakada, Oita. This medieval manor estate preserves rice paddies, settlements, and irrigation systems unchanged for over 1,000 years. A UNESCO GIAHS site on the Kunisaki Peninsula.

The Cultural Landscape of Yukemuri (Steam) and Hot Springs in Beppu, located in Oita Prefecture's Kannawa and Myoban districts, was designated a national Important Cultural Landscape in 2012. Discover the rising plumes of steam over the volcanic alluvial fan, the living tradition of toji hot spring cures, yunohana mineral huts, and jigoku-mushi steam cooking that together form one of Japan's most distinctive cultural landscapes.