Oguni Town

Four 20m-span arches, 10m on both sides.

Konogawa Bridge, Miyanoharu Line

Photo by Muyo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Kitasato Bunko

A library funded with over 10,000 yenof private money went to his hometown.

In the 5th year of Taisho (1916), Kitasato Shibasaburo (北里柴三郎) put in over 10,000 yen of his own money and gave a library to the young people of his hometown. A 120-square-meter wooden Western-style building, it was said at the time to be the largest library after the Kumamoto Prefectural Library, with 1,511 volumes on record. The library was renovated together with his birthplace and is now the Kitasato Shibasaburo Memorial Museum.

1916: given to the town
Over 10,000 yen of private funds
1,511 volumes on record

02 ／ Shimojo Great Ginkgo

Its trunk measures about 9.6m around,with many suckers growing from the base.

Designated a national natural monument in 1934, it is named Shimo-no-jo no Icho (下の城のイチョウ) by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Its description notes that many suckers (蘖) grow from the base of the trunk. The town says it is said to be over 1,000 years old, and it is also called Chichikobu-san. It is handed down that boiling its bark and drinking it increases a mother's milk.

Dec. 28, 1934: national natural monument
Girth at eye level: about 9.6m
Said to be over 1,000 years old

03 ／ Oguni Dome

A wooden gym of 5,602 cedar beamstook about three years to prove safe.

Opened in 1988 (Showa 63), this gymnasium is a wooden space truss of 5,602 cedar beams and 1,455 joints. Designed by Shoei Yoh (葉祥栄), it was a wooden gym over 3,000 square meters, a size banned for fire safety, so he proved its safety himself, and it took nearly three years to begin construction. Its nickname is BIG TURTLE.

1988 (Showa 63): opened
5,602 cedar beams
1,455 joints

Living here

139 minutes from Hakata by highway bus.

about 7,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in town, and the gateway is Yu Station (ゆうステーション), on the site of the former Higo-Oguni Station. A highway bus from Hakata Bus Terminal arrives in 139 minutes without a transfer (timetable revised October 2025). The hot springs include Tsuetate Onsen (杖立温泉), said to have 1,800 years of history, and Waita Onsen-kyo (わいた温泉郷) at the foot of Mount Waita.

People living here: 6,590people
Area: 136.94km²
Households: 2,682households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 3 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —3 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Oguni Town in Japan33.122°N 131.068°E

to HakataHighway bus139min

Travel times follow 九州産交バス「産交バス情報サイト」の路線ページ『高速福岡－黒川温泉』の時刻・運賃（2025年10月1日改正）。運行会社は九州産交バス・日田バス（西鉄お客さまセンターが問い合わせ先に並ぶ共同運行）、平土日祝 3往復6便、運行状況『通常運行』（2026-10-06 に読んだ）。福岡→黒川温泉：博多バスターミナル発 9:53（日田バス）・11:38（産交）・13:03（産交）→ ゆうステーション着 12:12・13:57・15:22。黒川温泉→福岡：ゆうステーション発 10:17・11:17（産交）・14:17（日田バス）→ 博多バスターミナル着 12:34・13:34・16:34 (checked 2026-10-06). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Oguni Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

11.2km

Kumamoto Prefecture: 南小国町
Oita Prefecture: 日田市, 玖珠町, 九重町

Oguni Town isthis kind of town.

01Konogawa Bridge is a six-span concrete arch bridge between Kitazato Station and Higo-Oguni Station on the former Japanese National Railways Miyanoharu Line. Four spans are 20m and two are 10m, with a total length of 116m. It is a nationally registered tangible cultural property, and the Miyanoharu Line was closed in 1984.
02Kitasato Bunko, which Kitasato Shibasaburo gave to his hometown in 1916, is now part of the Kitasato Shibasaburo Memorial Museum along with his birthplace. The Shimojo Great Ginkgo, a national natural monument, measures about 9.6m around at eye level and has many suckers growing from the base.
03Oguni Dome is a wooden space-truss gymnasium built from cedar beams in 1988. Nabegataki Falls lies in the town's Nabegataki Park, about 20m wide with a drop of about 10m, its water falling like a curtain.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Oguni Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗