Yufuin is located in Oita prefecture of Kyushu island, Japan.
It is a small town in a valley surrounded by hills and mountains.
According to one legend, the valley was once the bottom of a
lake before the Yayoi era (about 7500 years ago).
There is a lake called "Kinrinko",literally meaning"a lake of
golden fish scale". Until the Showa 20s period(1945-1955),
we also had "Ginrinko"(a lake of silver fish scale), and "Toeiko"
(a lake reflecting the shape of up-side-down Mt. Yufu) as well. According to "Bungo Fudoki" , an ancient record of the natural environment of old Oita, since people produced cotton (pronounced "Yufu" in old Japanese) from trees growing in the valley, the area was named "the land of abundant Yufu", and then renamed "the land of cotton cloth" in the Heian era. In Konin 14 (823 A.D.), Dazaifu, the local government of Kyushu at that time, constructed warehouses. Then the area was again imbued with another meaning, yet a similar-sounding "Yufu-in",the land of cotton cloth warehouse".
In 1955, the area was merged with the adjacent town of Yunohira to make Yufuin of today.The population of Yufuin is 12,000.
A morning calm reflects in the mist and plumes from the hot springs ; it is full of green foliage, a small simple village with a sense of the European country side..... Let's start browsing on foot.You will have a lot of chances of unexpected encounters with us!
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