Yabakel Shrine is an ancient shrine located in Yabakei-machi, Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture, enshrined as the guardian of the natural landscape of Yabakei. Yabakei, a scenic area renowned for its succession of fantastically shaped rocks and cliffs, became nationally known after the Edo-period Confucian scholar Rai Sanyo praised it in his work Yabakei Zuki. The shrine enshrines Oyamatsumi no Mikoto…

The exact founding date of Yabakei Shrine remains unknown, but it is said to have been venerated since ancient times as a sacred mountain site. The shrine enshrines Oyamazumi no Mikoto as its principal deity, and has long served as a holy ground for ascetic practitioners and worshippers drawn to its…