In this town’s basin rises a single fire mountain, and at its foot hot water wells up without stint. Both the volume of the welling water and the number of the sources from which it comes are said to be among the leading in the country. The basin is sung even in an old poetry anthology, and in the morning mist hangs over it. This hot-spring district holding hot water at the foot of a fire mountain, and the two neighboring villages adjoining it, were bound into one to become a city. This land of a hot-spring district in a basin at the foot of a fire mountain has, after the merger, quietly lost population. Yufu’s numbers are the record of a town in which welling water and three towns are inscribed.
A city that opens, in nearly the center of Oita Prefecture, onto a basin at the foot of a fire mountain. Because this city was established in 2005 by binding three towns newly into one, its population statistics as a city cover the period from 2005, after establishment, on. From the 35,386 of that 2005, it has gently decreased to 32,772 in 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "a hot-spring city of the prefecture’s center," but the causal thread: how the past of welling water and three towns is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Seeing the present Yufu in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 33,000 (32,772 in 2020). Because this city was established in 2005 by binding three towns newly into one, its population statistics as a city cover the period from 2005, after establishment, on. From the 35,386 of that 2005, it has decreased gently, to 34,702 in 2010, 34,262 in 2015, and 32,772 in 2020.
Looking inside, the figure of a city of a basin holding hot water at the foot of a fire mountain appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 32.1% in 2015 to 34.2% in 2020, passing three in ten. The household-with-children share is 20.5% in 2020, and the crude birth rate is 7.4 per thousand in 2020. The Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.41 in fiscal 2023 — a level able to cover a little over four-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The figure shows in the numbers: a hot-spring district in a basin at the foot of a fire mountain, gently losing population after the merger. Why it takes this form cannot be read without going back to the past of the fire mountain, the hot water, the basin and the three towns.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / Real Estate Information Library (MLIT)
02 · The basin at the foot of a fire mountain, hot water among the leading in the country, a village sung in an old poem, the merger of three towns — the history behind the numbers
What supports Yufu’s past is the landform of a basin at the foot of a fire mountain, hot water among the leading in the country, a village sung in an old poem, and the merger of three towns. The oldest layer is the fire mountain and the hot water. In this land’s basin rises a single fire mountain, and its heat warms the water deep in the earth, welling hot water without stint at the foot. Both the volume of the welling water and the number of the sources from which it comes are said to be among the leading in the country. The basin is sung even in an old poetry anthology, and in the morning mist hangs over it. The hot water welling at the foot of the fire mountain was the central foundation of this land.
Beside this hot-spring basin lay two neighboring villages. On both sides of the hot-spring basin at the foot of the fire mountain adjoined a village of fields and another village. The path to becoming a city, too, mirrors this town. In 2005 the village of the hot-spring basin and the two neighboring villages were bound newly into one, and the present city was established. It lies in nearly the center of the prefecture, with a fire mountain to the north and high mountains to the south. The basin at the foot of the fire mountain, hot water among the leading in the country, a village sung in an old poem, and the merger of three towns — this town’s form stands upon the past of hot water and a hot-spring district that the basin at the foot of the fire mountain inscribed.
Source: Yufu City / Yufuin Onsen (a hot-spring area spreading at the foot of Mount Yufu, elevation 1,584 m; second in the country in both volume of discharge and number of sources; the Yufuin basin, sung even in the Manyoshu — overview) / Yufu City / location (in nearly the center of Oita Prefecture, with Mount Yufu in the north and mountains such as Mount Kuro in the south; the hot-spring areas of Yunohira and Tsukahara — overview) / Yufu City (established on 2005-10-1 by the new merger of Hasama Town, Shonai Town and Yufuin Town — overview)
03 · In a hot-spring district in a basin at the foot of a fire mountain, losing population gently after the merger
What characterizes Yufu is that, while it holds the past of a hot-spring district in a basin at the foot of a fire mountain, it is losing population gently after the merger. From the 35,386 of 2005, when the city was established, to the 32,772 of 2020, some three thousand were lost over fifteen years. The fall is gentle. Even in this land holding a hot-spring district welling hot water among the leading in the country, one can read that some of the younger generation moved toward the larger cities, and the town’s age as a whole rose. That the share aged 65 and over passed three in ten at 34.2% in 2020 is an expression of that.
On the other hand, the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025, the household-with-children share is 20.5% in 2020, and the crude birth rate is 7.4 per thousand in 2020. The Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.41 is a level able to cover a little over four-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue. One can read that the position of nearly the center of the prefecture, and the holding of a village near the prefecture’s central city, hold the fall of population to a gentle pace. The hot-spring district in a basin at the foot of a fire mountain is now losing population gently and advancing its aging after the merger. Hot water among the leading in the country draws people, and a village near the prefecture’s central city serves as a foothold for commuting — these two work together, and so Yufu’s fall of population stays at some three thousand over fifteen years, far gentler than that of the neighboring cities.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · A basin at the foot of a fire mountain welled hot water among the leading in the country — that past
The functions Yufu holds are not one. In the basin rises a single fire mountain, and its heat warms the water deep in the earth. With that fire mountain’s heat, it wells at the foot hot water said to be among the leading in the country in both the volume of welling and the number of sources, and it was sung even in an old poetry anthology. And lying in nearly the center of the prefecture, it bound the hot-spring basin and the two adjoining villages.
From the basin at the foot of a fire mountain, to hot water among the leading in the country, a village sung in an old poem, and the merger of three towns — the geography of "a basin at the foot where a fire mountain rises" welled hot water among the leading in the country and bred the hot-spring district. The basin at the foot of the fire mountain and the hot water among the leading in the country fold together in the same single place — nearly the center of Oita Prefecture — to set the present form of Yufu.
Source: Yufu City / Yufuin Onsen (a hot-spring area spreading at the foot of Mount Yufu, elevation 1,584 m; second in the country in both volume of discharge and number of sources; the Yufuin basin, sung even in the Manyoshu — overview) / Yufu City / location (in nearly the center of Oita Prefecture, with Mount Yufu in the north and mountains such as Mount Kuro in the south; the hot-spring areas of Yunohira and Tsukahara — overview) / Yufu City (established on 2005-10-1 by the new merger of Hasama Town, Shonai Town and Yufuin Town — overview)
05 · Atlas’s note — in a hot-spring district in a basin at the foot of a fire mountain, reading the cohabitation of villages of differing character
Lay out Yufu’s numbers and the indicators of a city of a basin holding hot water at the foot of a fire mountain line up: a population gently falling after the merger, an aging rate of 34.2%, a household-with-children share of 20.5%, and a fiscal capacity of 0.41. What I want to read here is the richness of hot water that the landform brought — that this town "holds, in a basin at the foot of a fire mountain, hot water said to be among the leading in the country in both the volume of welling and the number of sources." The heat of the fire mountain rising in the basin warms the water deep in the earth, welling hot water without stint at the foot. The chain by which the fire mountain made, just as it was, a hot-spring district among the leading in the country explains this town well.
Another thing I want to consider is that this town "bound into one the village of the hot-spring basin and the two neighboring villages." A widely known hot-spring basin, a village near the prefecture’s central city, and a village of fields are now one city. Within the frame of the city dwell together a face that draws people with hot water and a village face that commutes to the neighboring city. Bearing in mind the structure by which villages of differing character are bound within one city, one can read the city’s numbers as a whole without mistaking them for the figure of the hot-spring basin alone.
What I (Atlas), who handle numbers with an accountant’s eye, can say reaches only this far. For the rest, it suffices to picture the scene — at daybreak the basin fills with mist, and into that mist the steam of the hot springs rises from the skirts of the fire mountain and melts away.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Yufu City / Yufuin Onsen (a hot-spring area spreading at the foot of Mount Yufu, elevation 1,584 m; second in the country in both volume of discharge and number of sources; the Yufuin basin, sung even in the Manyoshu — overview) / Yufu City / location (in nearly the center of Oita Prefecture, with Mount Yufu in the north and mountains such as Mount Kuro in the south; the hot-spring areas of Yunohira and Tsukahara — overview) / Yufu City (established on 2005-10-1 by the new merger of Hasama Town, Shonai Town and Yufuin Town — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (wave33-west 2026-06-04)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave33w_