Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall

What Is the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall?

The Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall (冨士屋旅館石垣, Fujiya Ryokan Ishigaki) is a stone retaining wall along the east edge 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 wall marks the eastern boundary of the site, turning back and forth in a zigzag as it goes. The government database gives its total length as 71 m in the structure field and as roughly 70 m in the written description. It is broken once by a flight of stone steps, which forms the way up into the property.

Why the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall Was Registered

The Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property together with the main house, gate and steps as number 44-0072, counted as one structure, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs considers it valuable because, together with the steps in front of the gate, it preserves the landscape of the inn's old approach. It is less eye-catching than the house or the gate, but anyone walking along the east side of the site has this wall in view for longer than anything else.

What to Look for at the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall

Where the masonry changes

The main thing to see at the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall is a change in the stonework partway along. Between the south end and a point about 3 m north of the steps, the stones are carefully fitted in a manner close to Kikkōzumi, the tortoise-shell pattern of roughly hexagonal stones. North of that point the wall becomes Ranzumi, uncut natural stones stacked in an irregular pattern.

The boundary lies just north of the steps. Stand at the steps and let your eye travel about 3 m north: you should find the place where the neat polygonal joints give way to a jumble of field stones. The careful section therefore takes in the stretch on both sides of the flight.

A zigzag line

The wall does not run straight. It folds in and out along the lane, and each change of angle catches the light differently, so the texture of the stones shifts as you walk.

Visiting the Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall

The Fujiya Ryokan Stone Wall is on the east side of the site and can be seen freely from outside. It still holds up the ground behind it, so please do not climb on it or loosen any stones (checked October 1, 2026).

The best way to see it is to walk its length, starting at the south end and heading north past the steps; the change in masonry comes just past the steps. Directions and opening hours for the main house are on the Fujiya Ryokan page.