Travel Guide of Scenic Byway Kyushu

Q-❿ Toyonokuni History Road
Kitakyushu, Kanda, Yukuhashi, Miyako, Chikujo, Buzen, Yoshitomi, Koge (FukuokaPref.), and Nakatsu, Usa (Oita Pref.)－Ａancient Country, Nakatsu Kaido (oldroad in Edo era), Usa Shrine (large-scale national shrine) –CASE

As shown on the map, the area of scenic byways of "Toyonokuni
visiting by car, please use Kyushu Expressway and HigashiHistory Road" is given by five cities and five towns facing the SuoKyushu Expressway. On the other hand, the Nippou Main Line ofnada Sea, located at the throat of the Kyushu region.
JR Kyushu is also available.
(Scenic Resources). This area was governed as an ancient province,(1) Castle Town in Kokura-Kita Ward.
Buzen-Koku. The main route is Nakatsu Kaido Road, which isalmost parallel to National Route 10, of which starting point is theThe most important scenic spot in this area is Kokura Castle on
Tokiwa Bashi bridge across the Murasaki River in Kitakyushu
the west side of the Murasaki River, which was originally built inCity, and the end point is Nakatsu City. The envoy’s road to Usa
the early 16th century. After the Hosokawa Clan moved toShrine and the historical road to Dazai-Fu (Dazaifu City) can beKumamoto, the Ogasawara Clan inherited it. The castle wasadded. In addition, the mountain road was a shuttle road to thefrequently exposed to fire, but was rebuilt every time. The present
Hita magistrate’s office in the Kyushu
Historic important happenings in Nakatsu Kaido Road
region, which was under the direct control
7th
8th
12th
17th
19thAD
Eraof the Shogunate in the Edo period (17th toTumulus
Asuka,NaraHeianSengoku
EdoMeiji~(3)Ishizuka T.
(4)Buzen Kokufu (2)Oracle Case (6)GoganTemple (1)Kokura Castle (6)Yukiti Fukuzawa
19th centuries).
(3)Goshoyama T. (8)Usa Shrine(8)Komo Shrine(6)Nakatsu Castle (7)Yabakei Bridge
Many places on this route are associatedetc.
(6)Aono Domon(Tunnel)
with a lot of important historical events in(5)Kubote Mt.
Japan, the contents of which are listed in
the right table. Historic facilities andevents on these roads are major scenic
resources in the area.
(Access). Kitakyushu Airport and Kokura
Station on the Sanyou Shinkansen are themain access points to this scenic spot. If(1)

Tower Castle (Tenshukaku)
of Kokura Castle.

(1) Current Tokiwa Bashi Bridge crossing theMurasaki River

castle tower was rebuilt in 1959 afterWorld War II. The architectural style ischaracterized by no eaves between the
4th and 5th floors and high stone walls.
The eastern side of the Murasaki
River is a merchant town. District
names are called fish shop, rice dealer,
blacksmith, etc., and names based on
their occupations are used. Also, thegrocery market called “Tanga-ichiba” inthe arcade street is crowded withcitizens every day. In addition to theusual food, special ingredients such asbamboo shoots and eccentric local dishes
are lined up in a stack.

(2) Adachisan Area of “Myoken- guShrine”.
Usa1

(2) Wakeno Kiyomaro in 10
yen-note used in the period
to Showa from Meiji.

(3) Ishizukayama Tamulus (Kanda City)(2) Myouken-Gu Temple (Kitakyushu City)(4) Kokubun-Ji (temple) and its three-storied pagoda (Miyako City, Fukuoka Pref.)In 769, the incident of fake oracle occurred at Usa-HachimanShrine, and the administration was shaken. Wakeno Kiyomaro(nobleman) was dispatched to the Usa-Hachiman Shrine as amessenger of the emperor. And he received the true message ofGod; “The throne must be inherited by the blood relationship ofthe emperor”. This message prevented the Buddhist monk, Dokyo,
from ambition on the throne.
Kiyomaro saved the big crisis of Japan. However, he was exiled
to Kagoshima for revenge, and at that time he hurt his leg. It issaid that wild boars saved him and healed the wound at the hotspring in Mount Adachi. In the sense of thanking this,“MyokenGu Shrine” was built at the foot of Mount Adachi in 770.
You can look back on the history of Japan by visiting MyokenGu,
but at the same time, if you look at the present landscape ofKitakyushu, you can see the connection between ancient andmodern times. If you follow the Nakatsu Kaido with such thought,(5) Kubote Mt. (Buzen City)it will be a clue to know the Emperor system and the feelings ofJapanese about it.

(3) Large-scale Tumulus in Kanda Town
Kanda Town, which is adjacent to Kitakyushu City, hasdeveloped as an industrial city, but important ancient mounted
tombs (Kofun) built in the 3rd to 7th centuries were remained.
One of them is the Ishizukayama Tumulus in the 4th century(nationally designated historic site), which is estimated to be
120m long and 10m high at the rear. It is located adjacent to thecurrent city hall, and it is an old burial mount of the largest
keyhole tomb in Kyushu. A bronze mirror with a triangle edge
decorated with god and animal, national important culturalproperty, was found in an old tomb and dedicated to the nearby
Uhara Shrine.
The Goshoyama mound near Ishizukayama was built in thelate 5th century. The length of mound is about 120m long, andharnesses and mirrors have been found that show interchanges
with mainland China.
In fact, many ancient mounted tombs can be seen in the areafrom Kanda Town to Usa City. From those ruins, it is clear thatmany powerful clans lived in this area during the 3rd to the 7thcenturies.

(4) Ruins of “Buzen-Kokufu” in Miyako Town
This area was the state capital (Kokufu) of the ancient BuzenKoku (state) that existed from the 8the century to 10th century.
In the west place of about 2km from Miyako-Toyotsu IC on East
Kyushu Expressway, the trace of “Kokufu” was found. The scaleis estimated to be 650m×490m, and it is constructed as anarcheological park of Buzen-Kokufu.
In addition, there are the ruins of Sosha Shrine, where thedeities are collected at local shrines, and Kokubun-ji Temple. In(4) Path of Metasequoia (Chikujyo Town, Fukuoka Pref.)2

short, there is a park with the theme ofthe ruins of the ancient provincial capitalin BuzenKoku, and you may understandthe framework of regional managementin the 8th century.
Going further south, you reach
Chikujyo Town. Here, you can stroll"Metaseno-mori Forest" surrounded bytrees (see photo (4)).

(5) Kubote Mt. Area for Faith
Mount Kubote (782m) is located on theborder between Buzen City and
Chikuzen Town. Untill the Meiji era,
mountain religion of abstinence anddiscipline were active there. Many cavesthat became bases of faith have remain
and is designated as a NationalTreasures. In addition, the village on thefoot of the mountain is an important
cultural landscape of the rurallandscape.
On the other hand, if you drive by car
along Prefectural Road 32, you reach thesummit of the mountain, and enjoy themagnificent panorama of the sea andmountains.

(6) Former house and portrait of Yukichi Fukuzawa (Nakatsu City, Oita)(7) Yabakei Bashi (Bridge) on Yamakuni River, Nakatsu City.

Second World War, the current castle tower was rebuilt withdonations from citizens and other sources.
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835 - 1901) was a samurai of the Nakatsu
domain, but became an educator in the Meiji era and established
Keio University. That is why he is the most respected in Japan,and the current 10,000 yen bill has a portrait in it. As shown inphoto (6), his boyhood residence remains in Nakatsu City and isopen to visitors.

(6) Nakatsu Town (Oita Pref.)Three main scenic spots in Nakatsu City are Gouganji Temple,
Nakatsu Castle, and the former residence of Fukuzawa Yukichi.
Kuroda became the lord of Nakatsu domain from Himeji, andinvited the former lord, Utsunomiya, to Nakatsu Castle and killed
him. Utsunomiya subordinates fled from Nakatsu Castle andfought at Gouganji Temple, but were killed. The white walls of thetemple were repainted to remove the bloodstains of those times.
However, no matter how many times it was repainted, the bloodof the killed people did not ooze out and disappear. That is why
the wall was last painted red, and since then the temple has beencalled Akakabe Dera (red wall temple). This is a tragic event in
the end of the 16th century.
Nakatsu Castle is located on the bank side of the Nakatsu River,
500 meters from Gouganji. It took a long time to build the castle
due to the change of lords, but it was completed in 1612. Okudaira
became the new castle owner in 1717, and the castle town
flourished, but it was burned down in the Meiji era. And after the(7) Yabakei Rochky Area
Heading to Hita City via National Route 212, you reach Honyabakei Valley in Nakatsu City, surrounded by deep valleys.
There is a huge rock just behind the road and colorful autum
leaves in the fall, offering a beautiful mix of the two. Please enjoy
the tour slowly.
Photo (7) on page 4 shows the scenery along the Yamakuni River.
A stone bridge with eight arches was built in 1923. Meanwhile, inthe 18th century, a monk dug an unlined tunnel by chisel andhammer along the river to eliminate dangerous traffic. This iscalled "Aono-Dōmon (tunnel)" and is said to be the origin ofJapan’s toll roads.

South Tower Gate
JyouGu (Building upon the Highest Ground)3

Covered Wooden Bridge “Kure-Bashi”(8) Usa Jingu Shrine (Usa City, Oita)(6) Gogan-Ji (Red wall Temple) (Nakatsu City, Oita)(6) Nakatsu Castle (Nakatsu City, Oita)(7) Kyoushuu-Ho (ridge) in Yaba-Kei (Valley).

(7) Utagawa Hiroshige’s Painting

Another not to miss is Rakan-Ji Temple. It is located in the
Honyabakei area, following prefectural road 500,. "Rakan"(Arhat) means a religious person who deserves respect, andRakan-Ji Temple is a temple established to worship such people.
There are many Rakan temples throughout Japan, but theheadquarter is in the Honyabakei District, which is an important
cultural asset of Japan.

century, but the two-story gate is rare and an important cultural
asset of the country.
Toyonokuni’s historical landscape route has many ancienthistorical heritages that help to lean the process of ruraldevelopment, and faith. Therefore, visiting this scenic route willallow you to enjoy the many historic stages of over 1300 years
from both a national and rural perspective.

(8) Shrines of Usa and Como
If you return from the Honyabakei
district to National Route 10, you cango to the downtown areas of Nakatsu
City and Usa City. In these areas, thereare two important shrines for theJapanese: Usa Shrine and KomoShrine. (See photo (8)).
Usa Shrine in Usa City wasoriginally founded in 725, and its maindeity is Hachiman God (God of War,Emperor Ojin). This is the headquarter
shrine of over 40,600 affiliated shrines.
The imperial family worships Usa
Shrine as a mausoleum of theancestors, and the people pray as a god
who protect the country. The main hall
is a beautiful building (national
important cultural property) in a vastforest. The architectural style is called“Hachiman-zukuri (making)”, whichconnects two buildings.
In Nakatsu City, there is Komo-jingu
Shrine is closely related to Usa Shrine,
and founded in 848. The shrine gatewith the deck was rebuilt in the 17th(7) Ao-no Doumon (tunnel) (Dedicated monk dug in Edo era.
tunnel with chisel and hammer in the Edo period)

Publishing and Copy right: Promotion Conference of Kyushu
Scenic Byways ○C(Copy right 2019． All rights reserved.)(7) Main Hall and 500 Rakan at Murodo cave of Rakan-Ji Temple (Honyabakei-Machi, Nakatsu City)(8) Komo Shrine and its gorgeous Tower Gate (Nakatsu City, Oita)
4