Fujiya Ryokan Main House

What Is the Fujiya Ryokan Main House?

The Fujiya Ryokan Main House (冨士屋旅館主屋, Fujiya Ryokan Shuoku) is a two-storey wooden inn building in Kannawa, Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, built in 1898 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2001.

It covers a building area of 361 m² under a tiled roof. Of the four registered items at Fujiya Ryokan, this is the only one with walls and a roof; the front gate, stone steps and stone wall are all pieces of the approach that led guests to its door.

Why the Fujiya Ryokan Main House Was Registered

The Fujiya Ryokan Main House was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, number 44-0069, as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the nation.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to one feature in particular: the remains of a formal entrance with a Shikidai in the middle of the east front, under its own Irimoya-zukuri roof. A shikidai is a low wooden platform set inside an entrance for receiving guests of rank. When a new entrance was added on the south side in the Taisho era, the old one lost its role, but the agency reads its surviving frame as evidence of the inn's standing.

What to Look for at the Fujiya Ryokan Main House

Two wings in an L

Fujiya's main house is not a single block. The core is a two-storey wing running north to south, facing east, with a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof. At its south end a second two-storey wing runs east to west, also hipped, with its ridge set lower. From outside you see the big roof of the main wing rising behind the lower roof of the south wing.

Two entrances

On the east side, the framing of the old shikidai entrance still sits in the middle of the facade. This is the face a guest saw after climbing the stone steps and passing the front gate, which stands directly opposite it. Walk round to the south and you find the Taisho-era entrance with its irimoya roof; the operator describes the Chidori-hafu gable over this entrance as a Kannawa landmark. Comparing the two shows how the inn shifted its welcome round to the south.

Handwork inside

According to the operator, records name the master carpenter who led the work: Yakuro Toyoshima (豊嶋彌九郎) of Kamegawa, in northern Beppu. The interior has been altered several times in the Showa and Heisei eras, yet the hall leaves its original beams exposed, and the operator credits them with the room's warm acoustics. In a recent renovation a plasterer from Hita laid new clay walls, which can be seen from the café lounge, so Meiji carpentry and present-day plastering now share the same rooms.

Visiting the Fujiya Ryokan Main House

The interior of the Fujiya Ryokan Main House is open during café hours, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The hall is used for concerts and exhibitions and can be entered on event days. The official information says nothing about access to other rooms or about indoor photography, so ask the staff (checked October 1, 2026).

For the exterior, stand on the east side of the site: the old shikidai entrance and the front gate facing it fit into a single view. Directions are on the Fujiya Ryokan page.