Located in the North-East of the Kyushu island and in Oita prefecture, Kunisaki Peninsula has a unique culture can be traced back to 1300 years ago.

 

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   Hiding in the mountains, close to rocks and forests, temples in Kunisaki is nothing like the ones that you have seen before. Surrounded by seven sacred mountains, temples and shrines lay in 6 areas, divided into 3 groups for different purpose. Motoyama (本山) is the place for studying, Nakayama (中山) is the place for practicing, Sueyama (末山) is the place to spread out Buddhism. This unique religious culture is called "Rokugo Manzan" (六郷満山), which literally means "Six Towns Full Mountain".

 

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   It’s said that Ninmonbosatsu (仁聞菩薩) is the one who had built Rokugo Manzan in 718, and also created 69,000 statues of buddhas. He is considered as the avatar of Usa Hachiman Shin (宇佐八幡神).

 

Rokugo Manzan

   Shinto and buddhism practice together is one of the things that makes Rokugo Manzan unique. People consider Kami, which is the god of shinto, and buddha is the same exsistance. The famous Usa Shrine (宇佐神宮) in this region, used to have a temple named Mirokuji (弥勒寺) inside, which is destroyed during the Meiji Restoration. Usa Shrine also offered help while building Toudaiji (東大寺) in Nara prefecture, and even sent a Mikoshi (神輿), which is a portable Shinto shrine, to worship the huge statue of buddha when the construction had finished. It is considered the beginning of Mikoshi.

 

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   When you are trying to make a wish in the Usa Shrine, you must clap your hands for four times instead of the usual twice, and it's said that you have to visit all three Kamis in order to make a wish properly.

 

Temples

   Close to the peak of Mount Futago, Futagoji (両子寺) there has a history of more than 1300 years. About 15km southwest of Futagoji stands Fukiji Temple (富貴寺) , the main hall of which is the oldest wooden structure in Kyushu, dating back to late Heian Period. It’s a national treasure.

 

Budha Statues

   The Aso mountain located in Kumamoto, which has always been an active vocalno, used to erupt rapidly. The ashes from the eruption flew all the way to Kunisaki Peninsula and formed into a special kind of stone that can be easily sculpted. Thanks to that, Kunisaki is dotted with a huge amount of stone statues of Buddhas, such as Kumano Magaibutsu (熊野磨崖仏) , Japan’s largest Buddihst stone carvings inside the wall of the cliff; Usuki Stone Buddhas, which is a large group of delicately sculpted stone buddhas. It's estimated that they were sculpted during the late Heian Period.

 

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   Every 10 years, monks in Rokugo Manzan will wear white outfits and walk through 183 spiritual places just like Ninmonbosatsu (仁聞菩薩) had done before. The walk, called Mineiri (峰入り) , takes 5 days to finish, whose starting point is right in front of Kumano Magaibutsu. It is a very long and dangerous walk, started at 855, and is still continuing today.

 

Kunisaki's Heritage

   In 2013, Usa region of Kunisaki Peninsula has become world agricultural heritage. The irrigation ponds, the Sawtooth Oak circulation and the food production system with regional characteristics are highly spoken of. The diverse ecosystem that Usa region had maintained over the years， and the farming and food cultures passed down through generations, such as Otaue festival in Bungotakada city, had made Usa region so unique when it comes to agriculture.

 

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   Kunisaki Peninsula is such a place with so many history, you need to visit here for once in your life, walking in the 1300 years history for an unbelievable experience.