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Aso-Kuju NP, Oita
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Tabby Niyata first appeared near the neighboring shochu shop in 2019 and became the ropeway’s unofficial “stationmaster” in 2020. Staff made him a barrel-shaped office by the entrance; in 2026, he was still “provisional.”
At the ropeway parking lot, Kyushu Shochukan stocks 500+ shochu from across Kyushu, including Iki, Amami and Okinawa. Its exclusive barley shochu Nitonana is named for its 27% alcohol strength.
Beppu’s One-Go Climb once linked sea-level Spa Beach to Mt. Tsurumi’s 1,375m summit without using roads; its half-course finished at Kogen Station. The 2026 event was canceled after typhoon damage.
The line opened in 1962 with 101-seat gondolas. A 1963 Mitsubishi Electric paper also described its programmed automatic operating system as Japan’s first for a ropeway.
Spring’s cherry-blossom “front” takes about a month to move from station-side Shiki no Sato up the mountain, ending with mamezakura—a delicate cherry described by the ropeway as uncommon in Kyushu.
One local explanation for Mt. Tsurumi’s name is that its landform resembles a crane spreading its wings. Oita’s official tourism site records this interpretation.
Beppu Kogen Station starts at 500m above sea level. In about 10 minutes, the gondola reaches Tsurumi Sanjo Station at 1,300m—a climb of roughly 800m, to air about 10°C cooler than Beppu city in summer.
