Japan Heritage story
Yabakei: a landscape scroll carved in rock
やばけい遊覧
Yabakei in Oita is a string of gorges, rock pillars and waterfalls that looks like a Chinese ink painting. Over a thousand years people carved Buddhas, tunnels, bridges and paths into it, and you can travel it like an unrolling scroll.
Key facts
- Theme
- Castles, Sea and waterside, Forests and timber, Food and sake, Mines and minerals
- Era
- Edo, Meiji, Taishō
- Region
- Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- やばけい遊覧
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～大地に描いた山水絵巻の道をゆく～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 大分県（中津市, 玖珠町）
The story
The Yamakuni River cut deep into a lava plateau between the castle towns of Nakatsu and Kusu, leaving cliffs, caves and rock towers across an area about 32 km by 36 km. Its mysterious shapes became places of legend and prayer. At Rakanji, a temple built into the rock, people carved some 2,000 stone Buddhas, including Japan's oldest set of 500 rakan statues, made about 650 years ago.
About 200 years ago, the monk Zenkai spent 30 years digging the Ao no Domon tunnel through a cliff after seeing travellers fall to their deaths from the path above the river. Later, Fukuzawa Yukichi bought land to protect the view, and about 120 years ago a new road opened up the hidden gorges of Shin-Yabakei.
What to see
- Ao no Domon: the hand-dug tunnel, where light through rock windows shows countless chisel marks.Google Maps 青の洞門 (opens in a new tab)
- Rakanji: a cave temple reached by a long stone approach, with hundreds of stone Buddhas.Google Maps 羅漢寺 中津市 (opens in a new tab)
- Kyoshuho: towering cliffs folded like a standing screen above the river.
- Hitome Hakkei: a viewpoint in Shin-Yabakei with eight rock scenes in one glance.Google Maps 一目八景 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Oita prefecture guide, and see more nature and shrines and temples.
Good to know
- Walk through Ao no Domon slowly and look at the chisel marks on the walls.
- Climb Mt Hachimen for a view from the Suo Sea to the Yabakei mountains.
- A car makes it easier to link the gorges, which spread over a wide area.
Questions travellers ask
Who dug the Ao no Domon tunnel?
The monk Zenkai, who spent 30 years digging it about 200 years ago so travellers no longer risked the cliff path.
What is Hitome Hakkei?
A viewpoint in Shin-Yabakei where you can see eight scenic rock formations at once.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.