Bungo Province Ichinomiya
Yusuhara Hachimangu
柞原八幡宮
Yusuhara Hachimangu is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Bungo Province, in present-day Oita. It has a car park (free). Opening hours end at 16:00 (charm sales). Without a car, the local authority gives 1 route from a station (by bus); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on March 15 every year. We found 8 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Sasamuta Jinja, 8.9 km to the south-east in a straight line.
Getting there
大分県大分市大字八幡 987
The address is given in Japanese on purpose. Show it to a taxi driver, or copy it into a car navigation system — an English transliteration will not be recognised.
Before you drive here
There is a notice about reaching this shrine by car — it may concern road closures at New Year, vehicle size limits, which way you can turn into the car park, or satellite navigation giving the wrong place. The Japanese text reads:
大分市公式によると、参道には階段が約180段ある。バスで訪れる場合は特に注意
For a car navigation system
- Phone
- Japanese car navigation searches by phone number. This is the fastest way to enter a destination.
- Coordinates
- Derived from the address down to the street number, via Japan's national mapping agency. Not a survey of the hall itself
- Address
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
- From 大分駅
- By bus.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
[バス] JR大分駅前7のりば発 大分交通「柞原」行き（乗車約35分）。終点で下車、徒歩5分（階段が約180段あります）
Taken from the local authority (大分市／柞原八幡宮（大分市公式サイト）, checked 2026-10-08). Station and stop names stay in Japanese so you can match them to signs. Fares and timetables are not given — they change.
Parking
It has a car park (free).
This routes you to the car park, not to the hall. From this car park to the hall is about 330 m in a straight line (the walk is longer).
台数は確認できず
The note above is in Japanese; it usually records dates when the car park is closed, and the fee.
Shrine office hours
Opening hours end at 16:00 (charm sales).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
8:30-16:00（御守袋の販売等）
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 3 ichinomiya in Oita in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- The shrine traces its origin to 827, when a monk of Enryaku-ji received a divine message at Usa Jingū and enshrined the deity on Mt. Yusuhara.
- Buildings
- In 836, the Minister of the Right Kiyohara no Natsuno, on imperial order, had the provincial governor build the shrine halls.
- History
- In 1153, the Cloistered Emperor Toba held prayers here for his sixtieth year and fixed the shrine's lands.
- History
- In 1184, Minamoto no Noriyori prayed here for victory over the Taira; Minamoto no Yoritomo and later lords such as the Ōtomo also revered the shrine.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (由緒｜柞原八幡宮, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Ojin-Tenno 誉田別命 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Chuai-Tenno 帯中日子命 5 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Jingu-Kogo 息長帯比女命 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 柞原八幡宮
-
Important Cultural Property
後殿及び前殿（1棟） 後殿 桁行5間、梁間2間、切妻造、銅板葺 前殿 桁行5間、梁間2間、切妻造、向拝1間、銅板葺 造合及び花堂を含む
designated 2011-06-20 · late Edo period - 太刀〈銘国宗／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 太刀〈銘源国（以下一字竝年号不明）／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 柞原八幡宮文書（二百十六通）
- Important Cultural Property
- 白檀塗浅葱糸威腹巻〈兜・大袖・小具足付／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 薙刀直シ刀〈銘国重八幡大菩薩天満大自在天神／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 銅造仏像（社伝阿弥陀如來立像）
- Important Cultural Property
- 柞原八幡宮のクス
- Natural Monument
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
三月十五日 例大祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 仲秋祭（浜の市）
- 九月中旬
- 武内大神渡御祭
- 九月一日～九月七日
- 夏越祭
- 七月三十一日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Sasamuta Jinja, about 8.9 km to the south-east in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Usa Jingu (36 km north-west) and Aso Jinja (52 km south-west).
Straight-line distances between the shrines, not road distances. Across mountains or water, the drive is much longer.
Why this shrine is called an ichinomiya
Documented by a public source
A public body — the city, the prefecture, or the prefectural shrine office — describes this shrine as the ichinomiya of its province.
Listed on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association.
The city of Ōita describes it as the ichinomiya of Bungo Province. The shrine itself says that the deity was brought from Usa Jingu in Tenchō 4 (827) and that the provincial governor built its halls in Jōwa 3 (836).
- https://www.city.oita.oita.jp/o204/bunkasports/rekishi/yusuhara.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://oita-yusuhara.com/history/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- 全国一の宮巡拝会『全国一の宮神社所在地』（平成30年5月・改訂版 第4版） (checked 2026-09-09)
More on how the shrines of this province relate to one another is on the Bungo Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Bungo Province (Saikaidō)
- Prefecture
- Oita
- Engishiki (927)
- Disputed
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kensha
Sources
- https://www.city.oita.oita.jp/o204/bunkasports/rekishi/yusuhara.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://oita-yusuhara.com/history/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.oishiimati-oita.jp/spot/3306 (checked 2026-09-09)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.