Aonodōmon is a tourist attraction located in the former Yabakei

Yabakei, Oita

was a town located in Shimoge District, Ōita, Japan.On March 1, 2005 Yabakei, along with the towns of Hon'yabakei and Yamakuni, and the village of Sankō, all from Shimoge District, was merged into the expanded city of Nakatsu....

 town, now part of Nakatsu City

Nakatsu, Oita

is a city located on the northern border of Ōita Prefecture in Kyūshū, Japan. The city is situated on the border with Fukuoka Prefecture.The city was founded on April 20, 1929. As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 84,179, with a population density of 171 people per km²...

, in Ōita Prefecture

Oita Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan on Kyūshū Island. The prefectural capital is the city of Ōita.- History :Around the 6th century Kyushu consisted of four regions: Tsukushi-no-kuni 筑紫国, Hi-no-kuni 肥国, and Toyo no kuni...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Legend has it that before the tunnel was built, people had to climb over the cliffs through which the tunnel is built to reach an important local shrine. The path was very dangerous and people regularly fell to their deaths. During the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, a Buddhist monk named Zenkai, who had committed a murder in his earlier life, decided to build a safe passage for worshipers in order to atone for his crime. Beginning at the age of 49, he dedicated 30 years of his life to digging the 185 metre tunnel by hand, using only a hammer and chisel.

Aonodōmon was made famous by a popular book written by author Kikuchi Kan.

External links

• Panoramic view of Aonodōmon