Japan · 1 PLACES TO EXPLORE

A little more
of Bungoono.

Find places to visit in Bungoono. See what catches your eye, then save a few favorites for your trip.

Bungoono · JP

五郎丸の板碑

The Gorōmaru Itabi (五郎丸の板碑) is a slender medieval Buddhist stone stela standing beside a local road in the Ishida hamlet of Chitose-machi, in the hills of Bungoono City, Oita. Designated as a city tangible cultural property, it is a quiet, scholarly kind of heritage stop rather than a sightseeing attraction: a carved memorial slab over five centuries old, set against a green valley backdrop where the old routes of the Chitose uplands still run. Its interest lies in what the stone records. Cut in 1493 (Meiō 2), the itabi carries at its top the Sanskrit seed syllables of the Five Wisdom Buddhas arranged around Dainichi Nyorai (the cosmic Buddha Vairocana), and an inscription identifies it as a gyakushu tower—a memorial raised by a person in their own lifetime to secure merit for the afterlife. Standing on the modern Oita countryside road, it is a direct link to the faith and stone-carving craft of late-medieval Bungo province.

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Japan · 1 PLACES TO EXPLORE

A little more
of Bungoono.

Find places to visit in Bungoono. See what catches your eye, then save a few favorites for your trip.

Historical landmark

Bungoono · JP

五郎丸の板碑

The Gorōmaru Itabi (五郎丸の板碑) is a slender medieval Buddhist stone stela standing beside a local road in the Ishida hamlet of Chitose-machi, in the hills of Bungoono City, Oita. Designated as a city tangible cultural property, it is a quiet, scholarly kind of heritage stop rather than a sightseeing attraction: a carved memorial slab over five centuries old, set against a green valley backdrop where the old routes of the Chitose uplands still run. Its interest lies in what the stone records. Cut in 1493 (Meiō 2), the itabi carries at its top the Sanskrit seed syllables of the Five Wisdom Buddhas arranged around Dainichi Nyorai (the cosmic Buddha Vairocana), and an inscription identifies it as a gyakushu tower—a memorial raised by a person in their own lifetime to secure merit for the afterlife. Standing on the modern Oita countryside road, it is a direct link to the faith and stone-carving craft of late-medieval Bungo province.