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English issue

KitsukiFree

Information
Souvenir
Map

A small historic citywith a castle beside the sea.
History

A small historic city

Enjoy

To feel deeply in touch with aspects of Japan.

Eat

There is a unique food culture in Kitsuki.

Traditional Culture

Kono-uchihamono／Nakano-shuzo Ltd.

歴史

A small historic city

Kitsuki prospered as a castle town with 32,000 fiefs of the Kitsuki feudal clan Matsudaira in the Edo era（1603-1868）and has been the focal point of Kunisaki Peninsula for a long time. It is blessed with richnature, surrounded by the sea and mountains, and Kitsuki Castle still faces the capital from a hilltop.
Several samurai residences still exist on the north and south hill around the castle, and there is a street ofmerchant houses in the town.

［DATA］

Isoya-tei

211-1 Kitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-63-1488
Daily 09:00-17:00（last entry 16:30）
Price ￥200、child￥100

The historic old samurai residence of Kato Yogoemon was used as arest place for the feudal lord in the Edo era. Now, there is the
Kurihara Katsumi Museum in the garden, which exhibits works suchas Suiboku-ga（ink painting）.
1

KitsukiKitsuki2

楽しむ

To feel deeply in touch with aspects oThere are several places to experience kimono culture in Kitsuki. One is at Shurakukan, which holds
Japanese-style performances, and another is Waraku-an, where you can see various colours ofkimonos. You will feel deeply in touch with Japan if you put on kimono or watch a play with actors
wearing kimono.

Kitsuki Shurakukan
As Kitsuki prospered in marine trade,popular dramas were often held in the olddays. Shurakukan, a Shibai-goya（play hutor theatre） which held Japanese-styleperformances for the masses by touring
theatre companies, was opened in 1887
and closed in 1953. It was reopened in2009 and the current building is arenovated old Japanese sake storehouse
which still has pillars and beams from the
Taisho era.
［DATA］

398-1, Kitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-66-1112
Daily Monday- Friday 09:00-18:00
Saturday–Sunday 09:00-21:00

In the old days,
popular dramas were held and are
now popular with people again.

3

Kitsukif Japan.

Why not watch thebeautiful Japanese garden
in kimono?

Waraku-an（Nakane-tei）
Waraku-an is the luxurious residence of
Nakane, who was the chief retainer in
Kitsuki during the Edo era. The house wasbuilt in 1862 by Genemon, the ninth of the
Nakane’s, to spend the rest of his life inand is provided with a Japanese-styletea-ceremony room. Kitsuki received thefirst certificate of the “Historic Cityscapewith Kimono” in the whole country. Leaseof kimono is ￥2,400, tabi （traditional
Japanese socks）is an additional ￥100.
［DATA］

372-4, kitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-63-1210
Daily 09:00-16:30（lease 10:00-14:00）

Kitsuki4

食すThere is a unique food culture in KitsukGreen tea
and homemade Rakugan￥540

Ocha-no-Tomaya［DATA］

385 Shinmachi, Kitsuki city
☎0978-62-2139
Daily 09:00-19:00※It is possible to experiencea Japanese-style tea ceremony byreservation (max. 30 people).

5

KitsukiOcha-no-Tomaya is from the middle of the Edo
era and it has a history of over 270 years ofserving only tea. You can have tasty green tea
with homemade traditional Japanese sweets
such as Rakugan（a hard, dainty sweet made ofsoybean and rice flour mixed with sugar）andMonaka （a wafer cake filled with bean jam）
made by the 10th generation storekeeper here.
The current building was built in 1875. Traditional seasonal preparations and old tea tools are amust-see.

i.

A lot of restaurants, coffee shops and food stores stand in the town. Particularly Tomaya and Wakaeya
have the longest histories of all. Kitsuki castle town has a unique food culture with a heritage stretchingback to the Edo era. You can thoroughly enjoy dishes in the Japanese atmosphere.

Tai-chazuke Ureshino ￥1,800

Wakaeya
Wakaeya is a historical Japanese-style restaurant
founded in 1698. Tai-chazuke Ureshino is a
specialty of Kitsuki from the Edo era and it wasnamed after a feudal lord said “I’m pleasure”（ureshino in Japanese）when he had it, a longtime ago. Chazuke is a very popular simple meal
with rice and hot green tea, but Ureshino is amore luxurious meal, slices of fresh sea breamwith sesame soy sauce on rice with hot green tea
poured over it.

［DATA］

665-429 Kitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-63-5555
Daily 11:00-15:00,
night time is by request only.

Kitsuki6

FILE:1

Kitsuki prospered as a castle town in the Edo era an
craftsman and an old sake brewing family still rem
cultures that still exist, even in the whole country. T
popular with people. Both products are sold in Kitsu

Excellent quality knives
made by a Kaji craftsman with60 years experience.
Kaji means blacksmith, a traditional culture that has lasted two
thousand years in Japan. There was a blacksmith in each town
in Japan until the 1960s-1970s. There were ten blacksmiths in
Kitsuki until 50 years ago, but now is there is only Kono-uchihamono. Mr. Kono is the modern master craftsman who
completes all the knives. He continues making various tools
such as sickles, hoes and even digs for shellfish or oysters forfishermen in Kitsuki, as well as kitchen knives.

A kitchen knife,￥17,325（blade length：18cm）

ProfileMr. Kono Tadaki
Storekeeper of Kono-uchihamono. He was attracted
by sword-making when he was young, and started
his career under a swordsmith. When he was 26, theteacher at the last training place in Kitsuki died, andso he became a storekeeper. He is one of the few
Kaji craftsmen in Oita prefecture.
7

KitsukiKono-uchihamono［DATA］

North Gion, Kitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-62-3416 FAX.0978-68-8670

FILE:2nd also various traditional cultures flourished. A Kajimain here. Particularly Kaji is one of the very few
Their products are known as high quality and very
uki Furusato Industries Store.

Only one sake brewer has produced
tasty sake in Kitsuki castle town
for more than 130 years.
There had been many sake brewing companies in Kitsuki castle
town, where culture prospered in the Edo era. But now,
Nakano-shuzo is the only one still in existence. A big old
building, with the Edo era’s traditional white walls and thesolid tiled roof, still stands in the scenery of the quiet countryside. They have continued making one brand of sake, Chiebijin,
since its establishment. It is distinguished by the illustration ofa woman in kimono and Japanese coiffure.

Junmai-ginjo（Japanese sake which used higher polished rice only）, ￥1,944（720ml）

Profile▲The groundwater gushes out from 200m underground in the sake storehouse and it has received
Monde Selection Best Gold Medals.

Nakano-shuzo Ltd.
［DATA］

2487-1 Minamikitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-62-2109
http://www.nakanosyuzou.jp/

Mr. Nakano Atsuyuki
Born in Kitsuki, he is the sixth CEO of Nakano-shuzo
Ltd, which was established in 1874. He is currently
training to become a chief brewer. He is trying to
improve the quality of Chiebijin by using high quality
rice from Kitsuki farmers and very pure groundwaterto produce an even tastier sake.

Kitsuki

8

There are a large range of products such as art & crafts and sp

Barley miso（fermented for more than a year）

Kitsuki speciality “Yukisasa（bamboo grass）”

Homemade miso is produced at Ayabe-miso in the traditional
way without any change since its establishment in 1900.
The house was built in the Edo era and is the oldest of themerchant houses in Kitsuki, with an atmosphere of old Japan.

This sweet bears the family coat of arms of the Kitsuki feudal
lord Matsudaira on it. Monaka is a traditional Japanese sweetof bean jam in a wafer cake made from glutinous rice.
This Monaka has homemade whole black bean jam which ismade from the Hokkaido black bean.

￥570

Ayabe-miso

Matsuyama-do［DATA］［DATA］

169 Tanimachi, Kitsuki city
☎0978-62-2169
Daily 08:00 -19:00

9

Kitsuki￥130

173 Kitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-62-2223
Daily 08:30-18:30

ecialty foods in Kitsuki. Please take them back home as a souvenir.

Circular steamer made fromJapanese cypress with birch

A cup and saucer“Shirayuri（white lily）”

Manrikiya was founded in 1877 and the craftsmen produce
traditional Japanese wooden kitchen tools. Their speciality ishigh quality circular steamers made with Japanese cypress.

There is a large range of beautiful, white ceramic-ware
produced by a female ceramist. She makes earthenware
in a studio in an old merchant house built 100 years ago.

（18cm diameter）,￥4,320￥5,400Manrikiya

Wakako Ceramics［DATA］［DATA］

157 Kitsuki, Kitsuki city
☎0978-62-3060 FAX.0978-68-8066
Daily 08:00-19:30

381 Shinmachi, Kitsuki city
☎090-7395-6026
http://wakako-ceramics.eek.jp

Kitsuki10

AboutKitsukiKitsuki Castle

Kitsuki is located in the north-eastern part of Oita prefecture and forms
the southern ｐart of the Kunisaki Peninsula. Kitsuki covers 280㎢
（approximately 23km north to south and 29km east to west）, which is
4.4% of the prefecture（6,338㎢）. Kitsuki has a population of approximately 32,000 people. The city tree is the Bungo Plum and the city
ﬂower is the Calanthe discolor.
The topography is full of ups and downs from the seaside facing Beppu
Bay to the surrounding mountains. Kitsuki is not only located near Oita
airport but also the major cities of Beppu and Oita, the capital city ofOita prefecture. Kitsuki is also a strategic connecting point of threemajor roads: the Oita Airport road, the Usa-Beppu road and the Oita
Expressway.

During the Nara （710-784） and Heian （794-1191）
eras it was part of the Hayami-gun and Kunisaki-gun
districts in the eight Bungo counties and later became
History
the home of the Usa Shrine.
Daimyo（feudal lord）Otomo came to the area in the
Kamakura era （1192-1333） and changed the familyname to Kizuki. The fourth daimyo, Kizuki Yorinao, constructed Kitsuki
Castle in 1394 during the Muromachi era（1338-1573）.
Kitsuki prospered as a castle town with 32,000 ﬁefs of the Kitsuki
feudal clan Matsudaira. It was the main place of politics and economy
in Kunisaki Peninsula in the Edo era（1603-1868）until the abolition of
feudal domains and establishment of prefectures.
After the Meiji era, and the beginning of the modernisation of Japan,
the former Kitsuki city and Ota village became Kitsuki prefecture, andthe former Yamaga-machi was divided between Hiji prefecture and Hita
prefecture.
The change was repeated in
the passage of time, and theformer Kitsuki city, Yamagamachi in Hayami-gun andOta village in Nishikunisakigun were merged in 2005
into the expanded city of
Kitsuki.

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KitsukiSlopes
Shioya-no-saka（front）
Suya-no-saka（back）

Ohara-Tei

The south-eastern part of Kitsuki beside Beppu Bay in thesouth and the Iyo-nada Sea in the east has the beautiful
seashore for a view.
NatureMountains sweep away from Futago-san in the north andKumogadake in the west, and 200m～600m high mountains
surround the north-western part.
Kitsuki has a Seto Inland Sea-style warm climate, with an annual averagetemperature of around 16 degrees and annual average rainfall of approximately 130㎝. There is little snow.

Horseshoe Crabs◆Mountains◆BeachThere are a lot of mountains in Yamaga-machi, and three
representative mountains, Tawarayama（543m）, Tsuwado-san（529m）and Kumogatake（654m）, are called "Yamaga Sanzan".
Nature watching is held in spring and autumn, and you canenjoy the delights of nature in all four seasons.

There is the beautiful Nata beach, chosen as one of Japan's
100 Best Beaches, which is known for its white sand and bluepines, and is also one of Japan’s 100 Best Beaches for
Swimming. The beach, which spreads north to south over 2㎞,
is the best beach for swimming in East Kyushu and is full ofswimmers during the summer.
There are rare species of ﬁsh such as king crabs and silage
parvisquamis gills in Morie Bay.

EventsVarious events and festivals are held throughout the year. "Kimono Thanksgiving Day" is held on thethird Saturday of every month and it is full of special privileges for people wearing kimono. For
example, there is cherry on the cake for people who are wearing kimono on "Kimono Thanksgiving
Day". Hiring and dressing of kimono is performed in Warakuan, the old residence of Nakane, the chiefretainer in the Edo era. Why not take a walk in Kitsuki wearing kimono?

◆Spring（March to May）

◆Summer（June to August）

There is gathering of clams on the beachand a Calanthe（ﬂower）festival in themountains. "Kitsuki Castle Festival" isfamiliar with people as a civil spring
festival.Kitadai-bukeyashiki andMinamidai-bukeyashiki are crowded withpeople putting on clothes of the Edo era, and it feels like atime-slip into Edo times. There are a lot of attractions suchas a feudal lord's procession, an oiran（geisha）parade andplaying of Japanese drums.

A lot of people come for swimming andﬁreworks in summer. In addition, the Tenjin
Festival is held in the old castle town for
two days and there is a parade of ﬂoats
from each town and ancient-style court
carriages along the street. It climaxes with "a quarrel" when theﬂoats ﬁnally crash into each other.

◆Autumn（September to November）◆Winter（December to February）

There is a Castle Town Health Walk Rally
and Doburoku（raw sake）Festival in
autumn. During the Moon-Viewing Festival,
the old castle town is faintly lit with not
only the moonlight, but also a lot of square
paper lanterns and bamboo lanterns lining the streets, and it
leads people to the mysterious world.

In winter, the Dolls Watching Festival isheld and "an ancient and modern doll in
Edo era" related to the feudal lord Matsudaira is exhibited in Kitsuki Castle Town
Museum. You can enjoy various types ofdolls in Sanos of the clan doctor, Ohara-tei（a senior retainer
residence）, Isoya-tei（a rest place for the feudal lord）, Kitsuki
Castle and so on.

Kitsuki12

↑Nakatsu／Kitakyushu

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Disabled Toilet

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Association Kitsuki Orange Sorting
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Oita Airport
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Children’s Center［1F］Kitsuki Furusato

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Kitsuki14

To Bungotakada City
Usa

Kitsuki MAP Wide area

Usa CityTo
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Tourist Information oﬃce
MAPCODE 46 899 747

Tourist Information oﬃce
MAPCODE 46 864 821
KitsukiNada-gu Shrine
Nada Ｃoast
Karishuku Campsite

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Udo Falls

Kitsuki City Hall(Central Kitsuki city)
Kitsuki Hot Spring

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Aiwara PA

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ACCESS GUIDEJR Beppu Sta.
Limited Express
14min

Bus
50min

Local Train
27min

JR Hakata Sta.
Limited Express
approx. 2hrs

JR Kitsuki Sta.

Saito ICay

Beppu Kitahama bus stop

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Miyazaki IC

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Bus
11min

Kitsuki Bus Terminal
One-minutewalk

Kitsuki Tourist Information Oﬃce

旬彩

Shunsai Kitsuki

Kitsuki［More Information］

Kitsuki Tourism Organization TEL.0978-63-0100（main）
URL http://www.kit-suki.com

Issue／

Planning & Printing／Kitsuki Tourism Organization

PRINTING IZUMI CO.

665-172 kitsuki, Kitsuki city, Oita Pref. 873-0001, Japan
TEL.0978-63-0100（main）FAX.0978-63-0112

1-4323-25 Takaenishi, Oita city, Oita Pref. 870-1117, Japan

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