The Miyagi area is famous for the Ameushi Waterfall. A large statue is carved into the rock wall on the right side of the stone cave where the Shinmeisha shrine is located in the Miyagi area. The shape of the statue suggests a raven-tengu, with a human face, an exaggerated nose and large feathers on either side of the shoulders.

It is thought to have been carved in the 1853s.

If this is tengu worship, it is thought that Sarutahiko-no-mikoto, who guided the gods in the Tensonkorin (the descent to earth of the grandson of the sun goddess) , was replaced by a tengu. The belief in the role of calming and purifying the land also suggests a connection with the tengu belief in Mt Hikosan.

Location: 719 Kamisakata, Taketa, Oita Prefecture
A car or a taxi is needed to get there. Please use the parking lot at the Ameushi waterfall, which is about 20 minute walk away.
Location of Ameushi waterfall: 103-1 Kamisakata, Taketa City

This group of ancient tombs is thought to date from the late Kofun period (around the end of the 6th century).

Surveys have confirmed 11 ancient tombs, but some of them have collapsed, and only about 8 of them can be identified as ancient tombs.

One of the tombs has a gable-roofed carving above the entrance, called a “senmon,” which is said to have been carved in later times to hide the principal image of the Ichimochi-tenmansha Shrine during the war.

Originally, there was a lid on the tombs, and the groove at the entrance to the gate could be seen as a mark where the lid was inserted.However, there is no lid now, and nothing remains inside the tombs. It is said that this is due to theft.

(The entrance to the gate is 60 cm square, and the inside of the chamber that holds the remains is approximately 1 m high and 2 m wide and deep.)

Location: 236 Ichimochi, Taketa City, Oita Prefecture
There is no public transportation to reach the ancient tombs.