Taking an Epic Summer Hike up Kunisaki’s Futago-ji Buddhist Temple

There are many small pleasures in life, and one luxury of owning a car is that I don’t have to rent or pay for expensive car shares—just spontaneous road trips at the drop of a hat. One quiet Sunday morning, that’s exactly what we did.

After a brief conversation with a barista about local activities in the area, he recommended that we visit Futago-ji (両子寺), a Buddhist temple in the heart of the Kunisaki Peninsula. On a whim, we followed his suggestion and took the 60-minute drive to the most pretty, quintessentially southern Japanese landscape we’ve seen yet.

Upon arrival, we pay our 300 yen entrance fee and briefly look at two beautifully constructed buildings before moving into a forested area towards the temple.

Futago-ji Temple

We find Futago-ji and are surprised that it is built into the rock face behind it. There’s a small entrance into the back wall from the side, where dimly lit lights guide the way.

The temple is a modest but elegant building paired with beautiful red railings and matching coiled bell rope—no pictures are allowed in the interior of the temple itself. Several golden Buddhas within cast shadows by the slender lit candles.

At this point, I’m certain there is more to explore around the temple. However, we are sidetracked by a path that seems to be heading somewhere up ahead, and so we follow.

Hiking Futago Mountain

I don’t really know what possessed us to climb all the way. I guess at a certain point, it would have felt meaningless to have turned back. My lungs felt shallow – perhaps the elevation, the lack of proper exercise for the last two months… Let’s go with elevation, shall we?

Finally, after over an hour and a half of walking, we see a tower up ahead. We hope this is a signal that we are at the end of the path.

I swear we both have the Rocky soundtrack in our heads.

The walk back down is significantly easier, but I think I’ll feel the exercise in my legs tomorrow. Our walk has led us astray from the rest of the temple grounds, so we will have to return again when we have the energy. Back at the complex entrance, we go to a vending machine and down two Aquarius (sports drinks) before returning home. Driving back, we notice the towers on the top of the mountain that we just hiked up.

How to Get to Futago-ji Temple

Like many places within the Kunisaki Peninsula, travelling by car will be your best means to reach Futago-ji temple and many other religious sites you’ll find scattered throughout the peninsula. From Oita station, it takes over an hour drive to Futago-ji. From Usa city, it takes a 30-minute drive to Futago-ji Temple. If you make the drive out to this remote peninsula, you’d be remiss to skip Kunisaki peninsula’s other religious sites, such as the large Buddha cliff carvings of Kumano Magaibutsu or Fuki-ji Temple, the oldest wooden building in Kyushu.