Things to do in Yufu

When mist creates a cloud over the surface of the warm water, Kinrin Lake seems like a portal to another world, suffused with a potent magic. Fed by a volcanic spring at its base and other springs whose cooler streams pour in, the lake stays warm year round with the same geothermal energy that feeds the onsen baths throughout Yufuin. Knowing how it works doesn’t make it any less magical in early morning, when the contrast between hot water and cold air creates the lake’s signature fog. Start the day here to be full of the relaxing energy that makes Yufuin such a popular destination.

Yufuin’s natural protector, Mount Yufu, is one of the town’s most distinctive sights with its camel-backed peak. The perfect backdrop for camera shots of Yufuin’s main street, Mount Yufu is also a great place for hiking. The walk is rather long, at 5 miles (8 kilometers), taking about 4 or 5 hours round-trip. Do the moderate hike relatively easily with a basic level of fitness and strong motivation.

Although the Showa Retro Park is a blast from the past, in many ways it celebrates change. It is seemingly dedicated to the entire Showa Period, during the reign of Emperor Hirohito, from 1926 to 1989. In particular it celebrates the Showa 30s (1955-1965), an era of radical shifts in Japanese history.

Everything in the Yufuin Stained Glass Museum, from the bricks to the furniture, was imported from Europe. Japan’s first full-scale stained-glass museum is a celebration both of this distinctly European art form and of European culture more generally, perfect for a town modeled on the continent’s spa towns. Visit for the art and the pleasing cultural dissonance.

The founder of Yufuin Retro Motor Museum, a town local, has amassed quite an impressive collection of motor vehicles. With a collection of 70 cars, 30 motorcycles, tricycles, small airplanes and retro buses, he is one of the region’s biggest amateurs and opened the museum in 1988. Get a sense both of his own idiosyncratic tastes and the history of Japan’s mechanized transport at a museum right off Yufuin’s main street.

With its heavy thatched roof, Bussanji Temple announces its heritage at first glance. Though the history is hazy, legend says that a monk founded the shrine more than a thousand years ago after receiving an oracle at Kirishima Shrine, at the southern end of the island. He carved a statue of Kannon bodhisattva and placed it on Mount Yufu, where a monastery grew up around it. There it remained until the late 16th century, when an earthquake brought the statue down to the valley and the people of Yufuin built a temple where it fell. Sense the deep spirituality of the space, which has been a center of religious life in the village for a very long time.