Fujiya Ryokan talks about the history of the development of Kannawa

　Yukihiko Muramatsu from Furusato Guide

　

Among the eight hot springs of Beppu, Kannawa, which is filled with steam, is literally the village of Ideyu.
If you go down the Ideyu slope and turn left at the public hot spring "Shibu no Yu" under Eifuku-ji Temple, which enshrines Ippen Shonin developed by Kannawa Onsen, you will find a row of motel inns that retain the vestiges of old iron exports.
In the back of the building, you can see a key-shaped wooden two-story building with a tiled roof over the fence.
This inn, which was newly built in 1899, is a high-class inn that was ranked number one in Oita Prefecture in a popularity poll of inns in the prefecture by a newspaper company at the time.
In Kannawa, where there were many visitors from Fukuoka for hot spring cures, Denemon Ito and Takichi Aso, who were called the kings of the coal mines of Tsukushi, used to stay regularly.
Currently, the entrance is on the south side, but at that time, when you climbed the stone steps on the east side and entered the front gate, the front entrance with a gabled roof divided the guest rooms to the left and right.
All guest rooms are built in authentic shoin-zukuri style with the following floorboards, floor pillars, ceiling panels, etc., using precious wood.
On the east side, each house had a porch to enjoy the magnificent view of Beppu Bay.
After the war, Kannawa changed a lot, but Fujiya continues to live on as a ryokan that remains in the memory of visitors to the hot springs since the Meiji era, together with the 200-year-old oak tree in the garden. (H5.6)