Restaurant overlooking Bungo Channel There is also a private bath, which is very satisfying!
Saganoseki, located at the southernmost tip of Oita City, is famous for its brand-name fish, "Sekiaji" (horse mackerel) and "Sekisaba" (mackerel), and the RV park is located on the grounds of the "Amabe no Sato Sekiaji Sekisaba Kan" and is one of the largest RV parks, with 5 areas with power and 10 without power. The restaurant overlooks the Bungo Channel and serves "Sekiaji and Sekisaba" (mackerel and horse mackerel) at reasonable prices. There is also a private bath for two people and a 24-hour restroom for RV park users. The Shiraki Beach in Nippou Kaigan National Park is right in front of the restaurant, making it a great place for outdoor enthusiasts to fish, play on the beach, and swim in the ocean.
Praying for good luck and protection from bad luck by cutting off an octopus? A sacred sword associated with Emperor Jinmu is the deity of the shrine.
Legend has it that during Emperor Jinmu's expedition to the east in 667 B.C., the sisters Isago and Masago received a sacred sword that was guarded by a giant octopus on the bottom of the Bungo Channel (Hayatsuki no Seto) and presented it to Emperor Jinmu. The legend is related to the founding of the shrine, and the sacred sword and the octopus that guarded it are also revered. The shrine is popularly known as "Seki no Gongen-sama," and has long been worshipped as the god of maritime safety and the god of good luck and protection from bad luck. The shrine is famous for its "octopus abstinence prayer," which is rare in Japan, and it is said that if a person dedicates a picture of an octopus and makes a wish without eating it for a certain period of time, the wish will be fulfilled. It is said that priests do not eat octopus at all. There is a large wisteria trellis in the precincts of the shrine, and the "Fuji Festival" is held every year on May 3. The main gate, which was built in 1697 by Hosokawa, the feudal lord of Kumamoto, the main shrine, and the shrine house are designated as tangible cultural properties by the prefecture, and the stone torii gate and Kaguraden are designated as tangible cultural properties by the city.
Bishago" is the local name for the osprey, a member of the hawk family. The name is said to derive from the fact that the fish caught were eaten on the rock. In addition to Saganoseki, there are rocks with the same name at Cape Muroto and Harimanada. Bishago Rock in Saganoseki is associated with the legend of the Kurozuna and Masago sisters mentioned earlier. Emperor Jinmu's ship was stranded at the Hayatsuki Seto (Seto Inlet) by a giant octopus protecting the sacred sword of Izanagi no Mikoto, which had sunk to the bottom of the sea. At the order of the emperor, the two sisters received the sacred sword from the giant octopus, but each ran out of strength and lost their lives. That night, the sisters appeared at the bedside of Emperor Jinmu and told him, "We will protect the safety of ships sailing here. The next morning, a violent thunderstorm split this large rock in two. Originally, this area was one of the difficult spots called "Hayatsuki no Seto" due to the fast currents caused by whirlpools. The origin of the myth also lies there, and the Bungo Suigun (navy) was born from the people's skill in navigating boats. Kurogahama Beach and Bishago Iwa are now registered as a national monument as a place of scenic beauty. The morning sun rising between the rocks creates a solemn atmosphere.
Countless petrels fly in flocks to an uninhabited island on the site of a former Japanese military fortress.
An uninhabited island 3.5 km east of Saganoseki Peninsula. Located in the Seto Inland Sea National Park area, this small island of about 80 hectares is the northern limit of native bilou and the southern limit of nesting petrels. Both are natural monuments of Oita Prefecture. The bilou are said to have been carried by the Kuroshio Current entering the Bungo Channel. The petrels arrive in March, establish a colony, and leave in July or August, returning with a brood of chicks. It is said that there are more than 6,000 of them, and they fly overhead when a sightseeing boat approaches. The island was settled and farmed by samurai during the Meiji period (1868-1912), but they were eventually forced to leave and the island returned to being uninhabited. However, from 1920 (Taisho 9), the island became a fortress for the former Japanese military, along with the Saganoseki Peninsula, for the purpose of monitoring the nearby seas. Today, the "Toyoyo Fortress" battery, ammunition depot, and other structures remain on the island. There is also a campground available only during the summer. Boats depart from Saganoseki's Kounoura Fishing Port. The trip takes about 20 minutes one way.
address (e.g. of house)
5682 Takashima, Saganoseki, Oita City, Oita Prefecture
Find the romance of the galactic universe in a digital planetarium.
Renovated by JX Nippon Mining & Metals in July 2023 as the JX Nippon Sekizaki Mirai Kaiseikan, the second largest astronomical telescope in Oita Prefecture and the second largest in Kyushu with an aperture of 83 cm is installed in the astronomical observation room on the second floor. During the daytime, visitors can view the sun in real time on a monitor, and depending on the weather conditions, they can also observe first-magnitude stars and Venus. The planetarium is small in scale, with a dome radius of only 6 meters, but it displays images captured by the telescope in the astronomical observatory. This is one of the few attempts of its kind in Japan. The digital planetarium is the first of its kind in Japan to project images from a high-sensitivity all-sky camera installed on the rooftop, allowing visitors to travel one million years into the past, into the future, and even to the edge of the universe. On nighttime open days, visitors can enjoy observing the moon and planets, as well as stars, star clusters, and nebulae according to the season. The view from the observation room is also spectacular. The surrounding area is also famous for its hydrangeas and daffodils, and is also a favorite stop for the Asagimadara butterfly.
Admission free Planetarium/adults 500 yen, high school students 250 yen, elementary and junior high school students 100 yen Observatory tour adults 420 yen, high school students 210 yen, junior high school students and younger free
Business Hours
Weekdays 10:00-18:00, Fridays through Sundays, national holidays, and August 10:00-22:00 (*Last entry 30 minutes prior to each day)
regular closing day
Tuesdays (or the following day if Tuesday is a national holiday), Year-end and New Year holidays
For more than 120 years, we have protected and illuminated the difficult navigation route, Hayatsuki no Seto.
The Sekisaki Lighthouse, which stands opposite the Cape Sata Lighthouse on Shikoku Island, was installed and lit in 1901, and for more than 120 years since then, it has been the oldest lighthouse in Oita Prefecture, serving as a guidepost for navigation in the Seto Inland Sea, where currents swirl and reefs abound. On February 13, 2009, the light was replaced with a high-luminance LED lamp, and the Fresnel lens was replaced by the "JX Metals Sekisaki Lens". The Fresnel lens is on display at the JX Nippon Sekizaki Kaiseikan. The lighthouse was unmanned in 1970, and was designated a National Tangible Cultural Property in June 2022. There are about 800 camellias growing wild around the lighthouse, and it is also a famous cherry blossom viewing spot.
address (e.g. of house)
4057-2, Oaza-Saganoseki, Oita City, Oita Prefecture
