Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps

What Are the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps?

The Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps (冨士屋旅館石段, Fujiya Ryokan Ishidan) are a stone stairway on the east side of the former Fujiya Ryokan in Kannawa, Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, built in 1898 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2001.

The flight is short. It climbs out of the paved lane along the east side of the site up to the front gate, which stands a level higher, and it is 2.1 m wide. The number of steps is recorded two ways on the same government database page: 13 in the structure field and 14 in the written description.

Why the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps Were Registered

The Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps were registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property together with the main house, gate and wall as number 44-0071, counted as one structure, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation.

What deserves attention is how the flight was sized. Its width of 2.1 m is the same as the frontage of the gate at the top, so the steps were plainly laid out to match the gate. The government description of the gate records that guests once came along the paved lane, climbed these steps and passed through the gate, and the steps were registered as part of that entrance.

What to Look for at the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps

Treads and edge stones

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records even the size of the stones. Each tread is a slab about 40 cm wide and about 15 cm thick, and the edges of the flight are held by long stones roughly 15 cm square. Look down as you stand at the bottom: thick slabs set one by one, framed at both ends by the narrow edge stones.

The north face

The north face of the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps is carefully built in a manner close to Kikkōzumi, a style in which stones are dressed to roughly hexagonal shapes so the joints form a pattern like a tortoise shell. Stand by the north side and trace the joints to see the polygonal network. The neighboring stone wall has a stretch built with the same care.

Watching the gate as you climb

From the foot of the steps the roof of the gate sits directly above the flight. As you climb, the gate opening grows larger and the east front of the main house appears beyond it. Within a few meters, the steps carry your eye past the gate and on to the old entrance of the inn.

Visiting the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps

The Fujiya Ryokan Stone Steps face the paved lane on the east side of the site and can be seen from outside. Their current use as a path, together with the gate, has not been confirmed, so follow the signs on site before climbing. Take care on wet stone in rainy weather (checked October 1, 2026).

Directions and opening hours for the main house are on the Fujiya Ryokan page.