Oita

Oita (大分市 Oita-shi) is the capital city of Oita prefecture.

Understand
Oita City Hall stands next to the old castle ruins. The ruins now consist of the old moat which surrounds a modern building, Oita Cultural Hall (Bunkakaikan). With Oita Cultural Hall, Grand Theater, and Otonoizumi Hall in the Iichiko Culture Center, Oita City is also the center of activity for events such as musical concerts and other stage events. The area near Oita Station has many shops, restaurants, and bars.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

Get in
Despite its reputation as an out-of-the-way city, Oita has multiple points of access.

By plane
Located approximately 40 km northeast of Beppu, Oita Airport is the main commercial airport in Oita Prefecture and has daily services to and from Tokyo, Osaka (both Kansai and Itami) and Nagoya by JAL and ANA, and a single international flight to Seoul, Korea with Korean Air.

Travel between the airport and surrounding cities and towns are handled by bus, unfortunately lacking any train access as of yet. The bus has an approximate travel time of 45 and 60 minutes to Beppu and Oita, respectively.

By train
Three JR Kyushu train lines run through Oita Station, located downtown: Nippo Honsen, Hohi Honsen and Kyudai Honsen. The Nippo Honsen could be considered Oita's main rail access line, running JR Kyushu's Sonic trains from Hakata Station and reaching as far south as Miyazaki. Sonic express trains take approximately two hours to and from Hakata Station. The Kyudai Honsen has local service running to the west and reaching as far as Saga Prefecture. Finally, the Hohi Honsen runs local and express service as far as Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture (about 3 hours).

By car
Oita is most easily accessed by car via the East Kyushu Expressway, a well-maintained toll highway that runs from Fukuoka and through Oita, as far as the city of Usuki. Though expensive to use the highway is undeniably swift.

By bus
Buses from virtually every major city on Kyushu have service to Oita, the main ones being the multiple highway buses that run to and from Fukuoka. Oita Bus, Oita Kotsu, Kamenoi Bus and a handful of others offer this highway service and travel time is approximately two hours, nearly identical to JR Kyushu's Sonic.

By boat
Ferry Sunflower runs a daily ferry between Oita and Kobe. This service is a "sleeper ship", starting in Kobe in the early evening and running through the night until passengers disembark in the morning.

Get around
The Oita Station area hotels, shops, and restaurants can be accessed easily on foot.

You can rent a bicycle for ¥200 a day at Oita Station and ride it to scenic spots like the West Oita waterfront (also accessible by train) and Oita River.

Buses leave from Oita Station and Tokiwa Department Store to other points in Oita City.

See








Do
Worth seeing is the Oita Prefectural Library, designed by architect Arata Isozaki, an early Metabolist masterpiece, finished around 1965. A remarkable brutalist concrete building, it was converted into an Isozaki museum in 1998.

Buy
Oita has two large, Western-style malls. You can try out "Wasada Town", a traditional fully-enclosed shopping center with an attached "K`s Denki" for any electronics that you need, as well as a "Tokiwa" that has the latest fashion and clothing for any situation. Don't be surprised about high prices even though it's a small city. The other big mall, "Park Place", is newer than Wasada Town, has store entrances within and without its main enclosed area and it is 20 minutes walking from the "Big Eye" multi-purpose stadium. Here you`ll find another comprehensive shopping experience, plus it has some more attractions for the younger crowds. The movie theater features both domestic and international titles and if you have a student or exchange student ID make sure to show it to get a discount.

Budget
Oita overflows with cheap and tasty ramen restaurants and stalls, most specializing in tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen that compete in flavor with Fukuoka's famous variety.

Takoyaki aficionados would be wise not to miss the Tettako chain of takoyaki stalls scattered throughout the city.

Chicken nanban, a kind of fried chicken cooked with rice vinegar and served with a tartar sauce-like topping that originally hails from Miyazaki Prefecture, has taken off spectacularly in Oita. This dish can be found at almost any low-budget restaurant around the city

Karaage, that ever-present Japanese answer to chicken nuggets or buffalo wings, can be had on the cheap at any of the Oita Karaage chain stands around the city.

Mid-range
Downtown Oita abounds with mid-priced izakaya, particularly in the Miyako-machi and Funai areas. Notable among these izakaya is Kamifusen, a small, popular chain that caters to groups large and small.

Splurge
For diners willing to pay a premium for authentic Japanese gourmet, a handful of Oita restaurants serve Seki-aji and Seki-saba, special kinds of mackerel caught in and around the swift currents of the Hoyo Channel between Kyushu and Shikoku. Also available in Oita, though in rarer quantities than the special breeds of mackerel, is fugu(blowfish), caught by fisherman in the city of Usuki.

Drink
Like most Japanese cities, Oita has compressed virtually all of its drinking establishments into one general entertainment district called Miyako-machi. Located approximately 1 km north of Oita Station, Miyako-machi's streets are lined with multi-story buildings packed with countless bars, hostess clubs, snack bars and izakaya.

Go next

 * Beppu
 * Yufu
 * Usuki
 * Taketa
 * Bungo-Ono
 * Hiji
 * Usa
 * Kitsuki
 * Hita