Saiki City, Oita Prefecture
"The Lord of Saiki sustains his food in the bay. The bounty of the bay is sustained in the mountains." A 400-year-old tradition nurtured by the bounty of the sea and mountains
Saiki City, located in the southeastern part of Oita Prefecture, has a coastline extending approximately 270 km.It is also the largest city in Kyushu, and is blessed with bounty from the mountains and the sea.
It faces the Bungo Channel, one of Japan's leading fishing grounds, and is famous for having over 350 types of fish caught there each year.
Fish is a healthy food that contains nutrients such as calcium, taurine, and DHA, but above all, the sushi made with fresh fish from Saiki has large portions and is so fresh and delicious that it cannot be found even at high-end restaurants in urban areas.
Access from Osaka
Saiki City boasts an abundance of seafood, but this also speaks to the rich nutrition of the mountains.
Nutrients from the mountains flow through rivers and reach the sea, where they help to grow plankton and become food for fish.
Over 400 years ago, during the Edo period, the Saeki Domain issued a notice to preserve forest resources in order to protect fish habitats. This philosophy has been passed down to the modern-day "Ura 100" initiative, an SDG initiative that aims to protect the bountiful ocean for the next 100 years.
Saiki City is a city with abundant forest resources, and the Sobo-Kamata-Okuzure UNESCO Ecopark, which straddles Oita and Miyazaki prefectures, is known for its beautiful rocky peaks and valleys made up of some of Kyushu's highest mountains, as well as for being a treasure trove of rare flora and fauna.
Among them, Fujikawachi Valley was carved out of a huge granite monolith, and you can enjoy canyoning tours there from May to September.
This is an activity that can be enjoyed by both adults and children in a mysterious and unexplored area.