was a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
located in
Shimoge District,
Ōita Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,081,646 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, K ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
.
As of 2003, the town had an estimated
population
Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
of 3,317 and the
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...
of 27.68 persons per km
2. The total area was 119.85 km
2.
On March 1, 2005 Yamakuni, along with the towns of
Hon'yabakei and
Yabakei
The gorge of is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty spanning the municipalities of Kusu and Nakatsu in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. Located within Yaba-Hita-Hikosan Quasi-National Park, it was selected as one of the 100 Landscapes of ...
, and the village of
Sankō (all from
Shimoge District), was merged into the expanded city of
Nakatsu.
Yamakuni is best known for Core Yamakuni (（コアやまくに), a large municipal building featuring an ice-skating rink in the winter. It has a junior high school, Yamakuni Chugakko (山国中学校), and an elementary school, Misato Shogakko (三郷小学校). As part of its fusion with Nakatsu City, two elementary schools, Tsukinoki (槻木) and Mizobe (溝部), were closed and their students transferred to Misato in 2005.
Despite the former town's political ties to
Nakatsu City, it is geographically closer to
Hita City to its west. It also tends to look to bordering
Fukuoka Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...
more than to the distant prefectural capital of
Oita City
Oita often refers to:
*Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
*Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture
Oita or Ōita may also refer to:
Places
*Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan
*Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stadium ...
.
Yamakuni is notable for its contribution to Japanese mythology in the form of the Yamaguni Yetii myth. This tale, widely regarded as fictional, recounts the story of a local hunter who allegedly stalked, captured and skinned the famous Yetii, and mounted its hide above his hearth. The tale is recalled in many local folk songs, poems and word-of-mouth folklore.
References
External links
Nakatsu official website
Dissolved municipalities of Ōita Prefecture
Nakatsu, Ōita
{{Oita-geo-stub